Project Blue Book Case #711. On April 14, 1950, an anomalous aerial object was detected at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey — the U.S. Army's primary Signal Corps laboratory and radar research center. Fort Monmouth was where much of America's radar technology was developed and tested, making it one of the most significant locations for any unidentified aerial detection.
The irony of an unidentified object appearing over a radar research facility was not lost on investigators. Fort Monmouth's personnel were among the most knowledgeable radar experts in the world, intimately familiar with the capabilities, limitations, and potential artifacts of radar systems. Their assessment of the detection carried exceptional authority.
Fort Monmouth would become even more famous in UFO history in September 1951, when a series of radar-tracked unknowns over the base prompted a visit from Air Force intelligence officers and contributed to the establishment of Project Blue Book itself. The April 1950 case predated that more famous incident by over a year, occurring during the Project Grudge era when the Air Force was less systematically investigating reports.
The object detected on this occasion displayed characteristics that the fort's radar experts could not attribute to equipment malfunction, weather, or any known aircraft. The base's sophisticated radar equipment, combined with the expertise of its operators, made false returns unlikely. The case was classified "Unknown" and later transferred to Blue Book's files, where it remained among the notable early cases involving the military's own detection systems.