A Fatal Encounter in the Pine Barrens
In the early hours of January 18, 1978, a chilling incident unfolded at Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base, adjacent military installations in Burlington County, New Jersey. A Fort Dix military policeman, patrolling the wilderness near the bases’ shared fence, spotted a low-flying, oval-shaped craft glowing blue-green. Around 2 a.m., the object hovered over his pickup truck. A four-foot-tall, grayish-brown creature with a large head, long arms, and slender body emerged from the shadows into the truck’s headlights. Panicked, the MP fired five rounds from his .45-caliber M1911A1 pistol, killing the entity. He also shot once at the craft, which fled upward to join eleven others in the sky. The creature, wounded, scrambled over or under the fence and collapsed on a disused runway at McGuire AFB, reeking of ammonia. Jeffrey Morse, a sergeant in the 418th Police Squadron at McGuire, witnessed the aftermath, writing, “We found the body near the runway. It was dead, and the stench was overwhelming.”
Morse, on routine patrol, had been alerted to UFO activity over Fort Dix between 3 and 5 a.m. A New Jersey State Trooper arrived at McGuire’s gate #5, requesting access to the runway area, which connected to Fort Dix’s wooded training grounds. Morse and other patrols cordoned off the scene, but Air Force OSI and a “blue beret” team from Wright-Patterson AFB soon took over, spraying the body with a substance, crating it in a wooden box, and loading it into a 10x10-foot silver container with blue markings. A C-141 cargo plane whisked it away, presumably to Dayton, Ohio. Morse said, “We were told to stay silent or face court-martial.”
George Filer’s Testimony
Retired Air Force Major George Filer III, an intelligence officer at McGuire’s 21st Air Force, Military Airlift Command, was present that morning. Arriving at 4 a.m. for his 8 a.m. briefing, Filer observed heightened security and red lights on the runway. He told a local newspaper, “The senior master sergeant was pale, eyes wide, saying an alien was shot at Fort Dix and found dead on our runway.” Filer, who never saw the body, interviewed witnesses for a top-secret memo but was denied access to photos. He recalled, “UFOs were buzzing the pattern like mad.” Now 84 and a MUFON state director, Filer stands by his account, detailed in a 2019 book about his UFO experiences.
Filer noted the control tower and radar at Fort Dix tracked the craft, and two B-47s crashed in the area days later after reporting “strange balls of fire,” hinting at a broader phenomenon. Unlike Morse, who was transferred to Okinawa days later, Filer spoke publicly, claiming pressure to stay silent fueled his resolve to share the story, suggesting a military cover-up.
Corroborating Witnesses
While Morse was the primary eyewitness, others reported activity that night. A Fort Dix MP, unnamed in reports, confirmed the craft’s blue-green glow and the creature’s appearance to NICAP investigators. A state trooper at gate #5 described the craft hovering over the MP’s vehicle before the shooting. Local residents near Brownsville, New Jersey, reported odd lights in the sky, and one civilian, per a 1985 MUFON Symposium paper, saw “a glowing object” moving low over the Pine Barrens. These accounts, compiled by the National Institute for Discovery Science, suggest multiple witnesses glimpsed the unknown.
Another airman, unnamed, told researcher Leonard Stringfield he saw the body before it was crated, noting, “It didn’t look human. The smell was like nothing on Earth.” Morse’s letter described the creature’s “fat head, long arms, and slender body” with big black eyes, matching sketches by a UFO researcher. The rapid military response and witness consistency deepened the eerie atmosphere.
A Hushed Operation
The cleanup was swift and secretive. The blue beret team sprayed the body and encased it in a wooden crate, then a silver container, before loading it onto a C-141. Morse noted, “The ammonia smell lingered, but it wasn’t constant.” The Air Force classified the incident as top secret, threatening court-martial for anyone who spoke out. Morse, interrogated at Wright-Patterson two days later, faced harassment, including a 1986 detention while visiting family, which he linked to the incident. He later filed a lawsuit against a California authority, claiming intimidation to silence him.
The Air Force, when questioned in 2007, dismissed the incident without evidence. Filer countered, “They wanted it buried. I wrote the memo because it happened.” The absence of official records, despite witness accounts, fuels speculation of a cover-up. Reports suggest Wright-Patterson’s intelligence center was familiar with such entities, as if this wasn’t their first retrieval.
Modern Echoes
In 2024, the incident resurfaced on X, with @planethunter56 posting on December 22, “Not a forced killing of an ET, but an alleged killing of an alien intruder at Fort Dix, New Jersey (contiguous to McGuire AFB).” The post revived interest among UFO enthusiasts. The Pine Barrens, steeped in Jersey Devil lore, have long whispered of strange presences. Filer’s MUFON work logs ongoing New Jersey sightings, including a 2019 Howell Township video of strange lights and a Rahway family’s red orbs, suggesting the area remains a hotspot. A 1977-78 wave of unexplained booms along the Jersey Shore adds context to the incident’s timing.
Signs of the Unexplained
The McGuire-Fort Dix incident carries haunting hallmarks of a supernatural or extraterrestrial event:
- Alien Entity: Morse’s description of a four-foot, grayish-brown creature with a fat head and big black eyes matches classic “gray” alien reports.
- Physical Evidence: The body, reeking of ammonia, was crated and removed, leaving only witness accounts.
- UFO Activity: Multiple crafts, glowing blue-green, were tracked by radar and seen by locals, suggesting a coordinated presence.
- Military Cover-Up: The swift cleanup, threats, and Morse’s transfer to Okinawa point to a deliberate silencing.
- Environmental Effects: Red lights, radar hits, and nearby B-47 crashes hint at an otherworldly energy disrupting the area.
These signs, coupled with Morse’s sketches and Filer’s memo, paint a chilling picture of a night when the Pine Barrens became a stage for the unknown.
Theories and Speculation
The creature’s sudden appearance and the MP’s lethal reaction suggest a botched first contact, perhaps a test gone wrong. Filer’s claim that Wright-Patterson’s team acted with familiarity implies prior knowledge of such entities. The ammonia stench aligns with other UFO reports, hinting at a biological or atmospheric anomaly. The craft’s blue-green glow and rapid ascent to join others suggest advanced, possibly interdimensional technology. The Pine Barrens’ history of strange phenomena, like the Jersey Devil, adds an occult layer, could this have been a rift to another realm?
Morse’s harassment and transfer point to a concerted effort to bury the truth. The lack of surviving photos, despite Filer’s claim they existed, fuels theories of a government cover-up. Was the creature a scout, a stray, or something summoned by the Pine Barrens’ eerie aura?
A Lingering Shadow
The McGuire-Fort Dix incident remains one of UFOlogy’s most provocative cases. Morse, under a pseudonym, and Filer, now a MUFON leader, have stood by their accounts despite decades of silence and intimidation. The Pine Barrens, with their dense woods and whispered legends, still hum with unease. Locals report lights flickering over the bases, and the runway, long abandoned, is said to carry a faint ammonia scent on still nights. Was this a fleeting alien incursion or a glimpse into a hidden reality? The truth, like the crated body, was flown away, leaving only shadows in the Jersey night.