{"type":"documents","slug":"2026-pursue-release-03-045-fbi-uap-d012-newark-field-office-1952-1967","title":"FBI-UAP-D012, Newark Field Office, 1952-1967","url":"https://disclosdex.com/documents/2026-pursue-release-03-045-fbi-uap-d012-newark-field-office-1952-1967","description":"FBI Newark Field Office memoranda and correspondence with the U.S. Air Force documenting UFO sightings across New Jersey from August 1952 to January 1967.","date":"1952-08-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["FBI"],"updated":"2026-06-12T00:00:00.000Z","disclosureRating":5,"connectionCount":0,"content":{"markdown":"FBI-UAP-D012 is a fifteen-year investigative file compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Newark Division, documenting unidentified aerial object reports received from civilians and forwarded to U.S. Air Force intelligence personnel across northern New Jersey between August 1952 and January 1967. The record was released as part of PURSUE Release 03 on June 12, 2026, under Department of War authority. [^1][^2][^3]\n\n<PDF src=\"https://www.war.gov/medialink/ufo/061226/release_03/documents/FBI-UAP-D012_Newark-Field-Office_1952-1967.pdf\" />\n\n## Provenance and Chain of Custody\n\nThe file originates from the Newark Division of the FBI and carries bureau file number 100-36998, with multiple sequential subsections (-5 through -44 and variations). The document was processed and declassified under the FBI's Automatic Declassification Guide issued May 24, 2007. Initial reports carried classification markings of RESTRICTED or SECURITY INFORMATION--CONFIDENTIAL; all content is now marked unclassified.\n\nRecords were maintained under standard FD-245 form procedures with cross-references to other federal agencies, principally the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) and the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Special Agents-in-Charge documented throughout the file include S. K. McKee (active in the 1952 period) and R. W. Bachman (active in the 1960s), alongside a large roster of field agents and clerks whose names appear on individual memoranda.\n\n## Document Structure\n\nThe file comprises administrative cover pages, formal interagency correspondence, standardized witness interview reports (Standard Form No. 64), telephone reports logged within minutes of alleged sightings, newspaper clippings, and organizational materials related to civilian flying saucer research societies. The earliest substantive content dates to August 1952. The bulk of civilian sighting reports is concentrated in two periods: 1957 to 1959 and 1961 to 1967.\n\nThe FBI's documented protocol was consistent throughout: receive allegation from the public or a liaison agency, note witnessing conditions, notify the nearest OSI liaison officer, and forward the material \"for whatever action you so desire.\" The Bureau did not position itself as the primary investigative authority on aerial phenomena; that role belonged to USAF's Project Blue Book. FBI agents acted as intake and routing officers.\n\n## The 1952 Passaic Saucer Photographs\n\nThe file opens with a restricted memorandum dated August 27, 1952, from Major Paul L. McCoy, Acting District Commander of the USAF Office of Special Investigations, 2D District, addressed to the FBI Newark Special Agent-in-Charge. The memorandum relayed a request originating from Colonel Donald L. Bower, Chief of the Technical Analysis Division at ATIC, Wright-Patterson AFB, dated August 12, 1952.\n\nThe subject was an alleged saucer sighting and photographic event that occurred on July 31, 1952, at approximately 10:15 a.m. at the 200 block of Brooks Avenue, Passaic, New Jersey. The alleged photographer was John H. Riley, age 28, of 571 Main Street, Patterson, New Jersey. The primary witness was George J. Stock, residing at 221 Brooks Avenue, Passaic, who worked as a grounds keeper with the City of Passaic Park and Recreation Department. Charles Gregg, a staff writer for *The Herald-News* (Passaic), provided the incident account that reached ATIC.\n\nAccording to the report, the object appeared as a \"greyish\" disk approximately 30 feet in diameter with \"a large dome jutting from its center.\" It reportedly hovered at about 200 feet altitude, descended to hover overhead for several moments, tilted \"as though observing the ground,\" and briefly emitted something from the dome's top before it was \"withdrawn.\" The saucer made no sound and was visible for approximately seven minutes. Riley photographed it using Stock's camera; seven photographs were submitted to ATIC via newspaper channels.\n\nATIC's technical assessment concluded the photographs were not authentic. The Analysis Division observed that the object had been photographed in a populated area in daylight at 10:15 a.m. and was supposedly visible for seven minutes, yet no corroborating witnesses had come forward. ATIC's sizing analysis noted that at 30 to 40 feet the disk would be \"about the size of a lady's gun hat,\" and at greater distance would be \"extremely large\" and again should have attracted other observers. ATIC formally requested that the FBI investigate the backgrounds of Riley and Stock for reliability, canvas the neighborhood for additional witnesses, and gather \"any other data pertinent to determining the authenticity of the photos.\"\n\nThe FBI Newark office responded on October 3, 1952. Credit and criminal checks on both men were negative. Riley was self-employed at Belmont Photograph Service in Patterson, working as a photographer and film finisher. His landlord, Joseph Di Stephano, described him as reliable in terms of rent but noted tenants had reported him bringing people into his darkroom late at night. Harvey Baskinger, co-owner of Baskinger Hardware Store adjacent to Riley's business, stated he \"did not believe RILEY to be reliable\" based on unspecified prior trouble, and said he watched Riley closely when he entered the store.\n\nStock's record was clean and his character references were strong. Thomas Cavanaugh, Recreation Director for the City of Passaic, had known Stock personally for ten to fifteen years and described him as a man who led \"a very simple life\" with a primary interest in mechanics, maintaining a \"very modern and completely equipped machine shop\" on his property. Cavanaugh had personally examined the original negatives and found they \"did not appear to be 'touched up.'\" He added that Stock's father also witnessed the incident alongside Riley, and stated he \"thoroughly believed both STOCK and his father to be perfectly reliable.\" Cavanaugh noted Stock had little to gain from publicity and that understanding Stock required knowing him over a long period.\n\nThe Bureau formally concluded it would not pursue the matter further and deferred any direct interviews of Riley and Stock to USAF discretion.\n\n## Civilian Sighting Reports: 1957-1959\n\nBy November 1957, Newark field agents were routinely logging civilian telephonic reports within minutes of alleged sightings and immediately relaying details to OSI liaison officers.\n\nOn November 5, 1957, Mrs. J.J. Henry Muller III of Glen Ridge reported watching a \"long, cylindrical, dark silver object with no wings but fins on the rear\" pass over her lawn with her husband and two children. The object returned at dusk from its original direction, this time with audible motor noise. The same evening, a separate report came from Mr. Marino of Windsor Place, Glen Ridge, whose wife described \"a brilliant white, cigar shaped with delta wings toward the tail\" object flying from south to north.\n\nOn August 27, 1957, Leonard Schey, a Captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve residing in Clifton, telephoned at 8:46 p.m. to report an observation made at 8:30 p.m. west of Clifton. Using field glasses, he described an object \"resembling that of an underwater demolition bomb\" with \"light, in the shape of a cross\" emanating from what appeared to be \"diamond-shaped holes.\"\n\nOn November 13, 1957, Willard Jones of Kearny reported watching an object over New York City from 11:15 p.m. onward: \"fluctuating red and blue lights\" holding \"a stationary position,\" observed through a 7x50 lens.\n\nIn 1958, reports continued. Mrs. Mary Jane Kaczinski of Union described a \"bullet-shaped, silver, no wings\" object flying at very high altitude with a vapor trail, observed from her kitchen window. Mrs. Edward Barry and her husband observed what appeared as a \"flaming rocket coming down from the sky\" while driving on Route 35 near Perth Amboy. A separate caller the same night, Mrs. A.G. Dower of West Orange, described \"a white hot point of light with a tail of predominantly orange coloring\" fan-shaped and \"at least ten times as large as the object,\" at altitude above 3,000 feet.\n\nOn December 14, 1958, Jersey City Police Detectives George Langrehr and Edward Sherry reported from their patrol car an object traveling \"at a speed of 300 or 400 miles an hour at an altitude of 1,000 to 3,000 feet\" with \"exhaust of a brilliant bluish-white flame about 40 feet long.\" Patrolman John Wheamen of the Fourth Precinct corroborated the observation. That same night, Herman Taubman and his wife Betty, near the Curtiss-Wright Plant in Woodbridge, independently reported the same phenomenon, describing \"a tremendous size\" object with \"a bluish-white flame\" visible for approximately 30 seconds. Taubman named multiple additional witnesses including a Passaic attorney.\n\nOn October 28, 1959, between 5:40 and 6:45 p.m., the Newark office received approximately seven calls from geographically separated callers -- including Walter Ecker (Bedminster), Leonard Connors (Surf City), Martin Arman (East Orange), Vernon A. Peterson (Greenwich), Richard Stoner (Hamilton Square), Arthur D. Lockwood (Palisades Park), and Mrs. Richard La Bonte (Upper Montclair) -- all describing the same object: \"a very bright object with a number of twinkling lights around it,\" \"surrounded by a haze or cloud like mist,\" leaving a rapidly dissipating vapor trail.\n\n## Sightings: 1960-1961\n\nOn January 16, 1960, multiple observers in the Bloomfield area reported at 5:45 p.m. a \"bright object in the sky with a hazy outline around it\" that appeared stationary east toward New York City before disappearing after about five minutes. Ralph LaVella of West Paterson described watching an object leave what he interpreted as a nearby jet plane and travel eastward with bright light, apparently dropping in the direction of New York City. Albert Douglas of Springfield corroborated a similar observation at the same time.\n\nIn February 1961, John Murphy of Westfield reported over three consecutive evenings observing an extremely bright object that changed from round to lateral shape and appeared as \"a spectrum.\" His wife, daughter, son, and a neighbor all corroborated the observations. Murphy had unsuccessfully attempted to report to Westfield Police (who were occupied with snow removal) and to Civilian Defense before reaching the FBI. On February 6, 1961, Bernice and Carl Abrams of East Paterson contacted the Paterson Resident Agency at 7:50 p.m. to report a \"very bright object in the sky west of Paterson\" -- Carl had first observed it while driving from Newark on the Garden State Parkway. The couple stated they \"did not know to call but felt the Federal Government should be made aware of this peculiar object in the sky.\"\n\nOn September 13, 1961, between 8:10 and 9:00 p.m., multiple callers including William Brandt (Elizabeth) and Gordon Schacher of the Physics Department at Rutgers University (New Brunswick) reported a \"very bright object about midway elevation above the horizon in the sky, slightly South of East,\" appearing reddish or tangerine in color and increasing in size as if from an explosion, with no apparent movement or noise.\n\n## Sightings: 1964-1967\n\nOn May 30, 1964, Theodore John Rubitz, age 18, of Bayonne reported watching five \"round and grey\" objects at approximately 9:50 p.m., flying north to south in a diamond formation with a fifth object trailing slightly, moving \"faster than the speed of a plane.\" His mother affirmed his credibility.\n\nOn July 11, 1966, Nancy Rauch of West Orange and Susan Shaw of Livingston reported watching three white objects at approximately 10:00 p.m., with two planes approaching \"as if they were chasing them.\" As the planes drew near, \"the objects disappeared.\"\n\nOn October 11, 1966, Reservoir Police Sergeant Ben Thompson investigated calls regarding a \"large shining unidentified flying object\" reportedly hovering over Wanaque Reservoir, described as \"about the size of an automobile\" at approximately 150 feet altitude and \"lighting up practically the whole southern end of the reservoir.\" When Thompson activated his vehicle's red light, \"the object disappeared.\" Patrolman William Pastor declared: \"It definitely wasn't a plane.\" The object had been observed stopping, hovering for several seconds, and moving off \"with great speed.\"\n\nThe final substantive entry in the file concerns January 21, 1967, in Florham Park, New Jersey. Peter M. Mackevich, age 11, observed an object hovering ten to twelve feet above the ground at the intersection of Brookfield Drive and Forest Drive, adjacent to his family home. He described it as \"shaped like an inverted saucer approximately twenty-five feet in diameter with a turret on the top surface.\" Peter photographed the object from his bedroom window facing north; the first photograph reportedly showed \"a cloud of smoke with the turret on top,\" the second \"the entire object.\" The Newark office formally communicated this report to OSI on January 24, 1967.\n\n## Interagency Coordination and Civilian Research Networks\n\nThroughout the file, coordination between FBI Newark and USAF OSI followed a standardized pattern: OSI made investigative requests; the Bureau conducted background checks and canvasses; all findings were forwarded with the standing formula that no further action was contemplated by the FBI. OSI liaison officers named in the file include George Wertz, Lawrence W. Van Liere, Harold N. Peck, M.A. Sroda (Camp Kilmer), John C. Caton, Peter C. Grey, Peter Martin, Agent Blalock, and Joseph Clark.\n\nBy the 1960s the file also accumulated materials from organized civilian UFO research organizations active in New Jersey and nationally: the New Jersey Association on Aerial Phenomena (Secretary John Nove), the Saucer and Unexplained Celestial Events Research Society (which published *Saucer News*, edited by James W. Moseley), the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), and the Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of America (AFSCA). The file includes convention flyers, magazine covers, and correspondence. Major William T. Coleman Jr., Deputy Chief of the Public Information Division at USAF, maintained direct correspondence with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, forwarding relevant saucer research publications.\n\n## What The Record Supports\n\nThis record establishes that the FBI Newark Field Office operated as a systematic intake and forwarding agency for unidentified aerial object reports across northern New Jersey from at least August 1952 through January 1967. It documents formal interagency coordination between FBI and USAF intelligence channels on individual cases, including at least one instance -- the 1952 Passaic photographs -- where ATIC conducted a technical authenticity assessment and requested FBI background investigation of civilian witnesses.\n\nThe record demonstrates that multiple witnesses -- including a USAF Reserve captain, police detectives, a Rutgers physics department contact, and geographically separated civilians reporting simultaneously -- submitted reports that the FBI logged and forwarded but did not resolve. Witness descriptions show recurring characteristics: disc, cigar, and cylindrical shapes; silent or near-silent flight; hovering followed by rapid acceleration; luminous appearance; and durations of two to thirty minutes.\n\nThe record does NOT establish the nature or origin of any reported object. ATIC's technical finding on the 1952 Passaic photographs was that they were not authentic, but no photographic analysis is included for the 1967 Mackevich photographs. No formal conclusions on any sighting appear anywhere in the file. No sighting is identified, explained, or closed. The record is a documentation of reports and coordination procedures, not an investigation that reached findings.\n\n## References\n\n[^1]: [Department of War PURSUE page](https://www.war.gov/UFO/#release)\n[^2]: [Department of War PURSUE data file (uap-data.csv)](https://www.war.gov/Portals/1/Interactive/2026/UFO/uap-data.csv)\n[^3]: [FBI-UAP-D012, Newark Field Office, 1952-1967 remote release asset](https://www.war.gov/medialink/ufo/061226/release_03/documents/FBI-UAP-D012_Newark-Field-Office_1952-1967.pdf)","readingTime":"13 min read"},"relatedRecords":[],"citation":{"canonicalUrl":"https://disclosdex.com/documents/2026-pursue-release-03-045-fbi-uap-d012-newark-field-office-1952-1967","title":"FBI-UAP-D012, Newark Field Office, 1952-1967","publisher":"Disclosdex","retrievedFrom":"https://disclosdex.com/api/v1/documents/2026-pursue-release-03-045-fbi-uap-d012-newark-field-office-1952-1967","license":"CC-BY-4.0"}}