; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Monday, December 22, 2014

Strange Sighting in Mount Olive Township, NJ


I received this report during the weekend:

Hello - thanks for reading my email. Maybe you can answer my questions. I live in Mount Olive Township, NJ, which is very near Hackettstown. There is a large wooded wetland adjacent to my yard. Lots of deer and other animals roaming around.

On Friday night, I was on the porch smoking a cigarette, when I noticed movement at the edge of the woods. The porch light was on and it illuminated most of the yard. I kept watching, when I noticed a man-shaped thing step out into the yard. I ran back into the house to grab my pistol.

I went back to the door and watched from the inside. I noticed my neighbor moving a bicycle through their yard, but didn't notice anything else. I didn't notice anything further.

After I went to bed, I was really having problems falling asleep. I got up and walked downstairs. I put my coat on and went out onto the porch to have a smoke. After a few minutes, I noticed small bits of white light in the woods. Kind of reminded me of penlights. That only lasted a minute or two. There was no sound. The neighbor's dog was not barking, which was weird because she reacts to anything.

On Saturday afternoon, I walked to the back of the yard to grab some wood for our fireplace. As soon as I approached the woodpile, I smelled a strong odor that reminded me of rotting roadkill. It was really bad, so much so that I had to turn around and get away from there. I was gagging and getting sick.

About an hour later, I again walked to the woodpile. The stench was not as bad as before, so I quickly put some split logs into the sling and headed back to the house.

Later that night, I was again on the porch smoking a cigarette. Suddenly the neighbor's dog started barking at something in the other direction. She was really going at it, while pulling hard on the chain. Just then 4 or 5 of these man-like things ran through the neighbor's yard, then into mine heading towards the woods. They moved like a herd of animals, staying together. It was so strange. The legs were very thin with small feet. I'd say they were about 5 ft in height. They wore loose dark-colored robes or something similar. The heads were small with no necks. I couldn't tell what color they were, but it was lighter than the robes.

I am confused and upset by what I witnessed. I later looked on the internet to see if there were similar sightings. I found the Hackettstown report on your website and decided to ask you what your thoughts were. I will admit that there are some strange things going on in this neighborhood. I haven't mentioned this to anyone, but others around here have seen many UFOs and lights. There have also been a few hauntings, according to some of the neighbors. Do you have any idea of what it was I saw? Thanks - JN

NOTE: I called JN on Sunday and he called me today. I don't think this was related to the Hackettstown 'Mantis Man' sightings, but who knows. JN told me today that he now thinks it's possible that these 'things' weren't solid in form. He also went into the woods to see if there was a rotting carcass there...but he didn't find anything. I started to look into other incidents in his area...so far, I found one reported UFO sighting from several years ago. The area is the Mine Brook wetlands in Mount Olive Township, just northeast of Hackettstown, NJ. I believe that this may also be part of Stephens State Park, but I'm not positive of that. Any information would be helpful...Lon

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