North Hudson Park Soil Sampling

Around 2:45 a.m. on January 12, 1975, 72-year-old George O'Barski was driving home through North Hudson Park, New Jersey, when his car radio filled with static. He observed a dark, pancake-shaped object approximately 30 feet in diameter and 6-8 feet high, with a row of brightly lit vertical windows, approaching from his left. The object hovered low over a grassy field, a panel opened, and a ladder extended. About ten small humanoid figures, roughly 3.5 feet tall, dressed in identical one-piece white suits with hoods or helmets that obscured their faces, descended rapidly. Each carried a spoon-like implement and a bag; they dug small holes in the soil, collected samples, and quickly returned to the craft. The ladder retracted, the panel closed, and the object rose and flew northward. The encounter lasted under four minutes. Investigator Budd Hopkins later located independent witnesses, including a doorman at a nearby apartment building who saw the bright object and heard a high-pitched sound as a window shattered, and another family who reported a similar lighted object that night. O'Barski, a respected businessman, reported the event months later to Hopkins.