Weird NJ - Weird New Jersey

12/09/2024

Weird Wear Never Goes Out of Style…or Out of Stock!
Now you can have any of our Weird NJ designs on all kinds of cool new apparel and accessories: Men’s Wear, Women’s Wear, Kids, Tee Shirts, Sweatshirts, Long Sleeve Tees, Hoodies, Tanks Tops, Tie Dyes, Hats, Mugs, Backpacks, Stickers, Buttons and more! All are available in all sizes and a variety of colors.
Represent Jersey!

12/06/2024

Drone sightings have spread to South Jersey and the Shore, and so have rumors that police and the military are chasing the aircraft down.

12/05/2024

Looking for the perfect gift for that hard to shop for weirdo on your holiday list? Weird NJ has you covered! We're your one stop shop for all your weird needs: Gift Cards, Magazines, Books, T-Shirts, Posters, Magnets, Patches and Stickers. Plus SPECIAL DISCOUNT OFFERS for the Holiday Season!
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12/05/2024

Residents,

You may have observed or become aware of the various reported drone sightings, in the airspace above Morris County, in recent weeks. Morris County law enforcement, in conjunction with our State and Federal partners, have been attempting to determine the launch point and landing location of these drones, as well as the people or entities responsible for their presence in our airspace. Several drone sightings have been reported above critical infrastructure such as water reservoirs, electric transmission lines, rail stations, police departments and military installations. Members of the local law enforcement community have been pressuring our partners for answers regarding this activity as their presence around our critical infrastructure is concerning. While we currently have no evidence or information to indicate these drones pose an imminent threat at this time, their presence appears nefarious in nature.

We are asking that all residents be vigilant and report any drone sightings directly to the FBI at the phone number or email tip lines listed below. Photographs and video are specifically requested and can be uploaded to the email address tip line.

The FBI has asked all citizens to report drone sightings directly to the FBI Tip-Line at 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at [email protected]

The sightings have been occurring nightly for the past two weeks beginning just after sunset and lasting well into the early morning hours. Please be mindful that not all low flying aircraft are drones as we have the Morristown Municipal Airport, on our western border, and Newark International Airport in close proximity.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Stay safe!

Joseph Orlando
Chief of Police
December 4, 2024

12/03/2024

“Weird New Jersey cofounder Mark Moran, who knows a thing or two about New Jersey mysteries, isn't quite sure what is going on.

‘They're flying at odd times, in the middle of the night, and it kind of makes you wonder,’ Moran said. ‘Generally, the private drone users do their activity during the day so they can film things and see things. You're very limited at night. Not only is it difficult to fly a drone when you can't see it, but also, what are you going to be looking at other than just darkness or random lights?’

Moran said he could only speculate, ‘But there might be something more here than meets the eye.’

‘It seems there may be some technology at play that's beyond the capability of just a private citizen flying a drone,’ Moran mused. ‘Perhaps they have some infrared or low light capability that the standard drones don't…Stories like this are great, they're exciting regardless of what the explanation is,’ Moran said. ‘It gets people talking and why not? Makes life more interesting.’”

FBI continues to investigate and the public continues to report drone sightings in the night sky over North Jersey. Who is behind the drones?

12/02/2024

Following reports last week of unusual drone activity over Morris County — and more sightings over the weekend — the FBI has taken an interest in a mystery that has drawn wide interest on social media.

Recent drone sightings also have been reported in Warren County.

11/29/2024

Since today is Native American Heritage Day, here are some photos of a couple of sites in New Jersey that our state’s indigenous people might (or might not) have a connection with. Nobody really knows for sure. Who do you think created these curious carvings?

The Carved Rock of Little Falls
Located on the edge of a high bluff overlooking a deep wooded ravine in the town of Little Falls sits a large boulder above the Passaic River across from the Little Falls Dam. The rock, which weighs several tons, bears an artistic inscription, a petroglyph, the origins of which are a mystery. Carved into the stone is the well-rendered image of a bird, which resembles a hawk or falcon, perched upon a large stone.

M’ke Helbing, who tipped Weird NJ off to this little-known site, told us “Some claim it’s a real Native American etching, while others say it was done later by settlers.” The boulder is located on a side trail off a paved path in the Morris Canal Preserve, which runs parallel to Main Street along the river where the Morris Canal once ran. There are no markers pointing the stone out as a point of interest or plaques posted that try to explain its existence. Most hikers stroll right by and never even notice the potentially ancient inscription on the stone.

This is not the only mysterious carved stone to be found along the Passaic River. There is another rock in the town of Garfield, just down river from the Dundee Dam that bears the engraved images of a bear paw, a fish and a phallus. This stone too has long been the subject of debate as to whether its inscriptions are of Native America origin or were carved sometime later. There is really no way of knowing for sure. Both sites however, Little Falls and Garfield, are known to have been favored fishing spots among local Indians, the Lenni Lenape tribe.

11/29/2024

Weird NJ's Wicked NEW Jersey Devil Tombstone Tee
What would you like your tombstone to say about you? Well, if you're the kind of person that loves exploring the infinite variety of strangeness in this state we call home, the answer to that question is simple – Weird NJ, of course! Our new T-shirt is inspired by the carving style and motifs of 18th century tombstones found in New Jersey's oldest graveyards. Whether you're a hardcore taphophile or just a casual tombstone tourist, this shirt is one you should be happy to be caught dead in.

11/28/2024

America Can Thank New Jersey for Thanksgiving
You may have learned in grade school that the first Thanksgiving took place at the Plymouth Colony in New England on October of 1621. But while that first Thanksgiving is generally accepted as the origin of this long-honored holiday throughout the U.S., there is lesser-known history of the holiday that involves its origins right here in New Jersey. In fact, the tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving as we do now each November would probably never have happened if not for a congressman from Elizabeth, NJ named Elias Boudinot (1740 –1821).

A Founding Father of the United States, Boudinot was a lawyer, statesman, early abolitionist, and an avocat for the rights of women and Native Americans. During the Revolutionary War, Boudinot was an intelligence officer and prisoner-of-war commissary under general George Washington, and was elected to the Continental Congress in 1779, serving as President of Congress in 1782–1783, the final years of the war.

After being elected to the first, second, and third U.S. Congresses, Boudinot was appointed director of the United States Mint by president Washington and held the position through 1805 under the presidencies of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

On September 24, 1789, the House of Representatives voted to recommend the First Amendment of the newly drafted Constitution to the states for ratification. The next day, Congressman Boudinot proposed that the House and Senate jointly request of President Washington to proclaim a national day of Thanksgiving for "the many signal favors of Almighty God."

Boudinot said that he could not think of letting the session pass over without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining, with one voice, in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings he had poured down upon them.

Elias Boudinot was eighty-one years old when he died in his home in Burlington, NJ in 1821. He is buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's Church in Burlington.

11/27/2024

On this day in in Weird NJ history, November 27, 1938, Francis Albert Sinatra of Hoboken, NJ was detained by police in Lodi, NJ for engaging in sexual in*******se under promise of marriage with an unmarried woman of good repute. Reportedly, Sinatra’s ex-girlfriend was his accuser, saying that he promised her marriage and then broke up with her.

Sinatra had been arrested the previous day and was charged with the crime of seduction and spent the night in jail. Sinatra’s mugshot and fingerprints were taken the following day. The fingerprint record lists Sinatra’s age (22), weight (125lb), height (5-8), hair (black) and eye color (blue), birth date and occupation (singer).
According to the FBI reports: “On the second and ninth days of November 1938 at the Borough of Lodi” and “under the promise of marriage” Sinatra “did then and there have sexual in*******se with the said complainant, who was then and there a single female of good repute.”

However, it turns out that the woman was actually already married which canceled out the charges of Seduction. Even so, the state of New Jersey arrested Sinatra and charged him with Adultery after learning that they couldn’t nab him with Seduction. The charge was later dropped after he paid a $500 bond.

Sinatra moved on pretty quickly from the crazy incident and married his first wife Nancy just about a year later. They had three children together before splitting up in 1951. He married three more times, to Ava Gardner, Mia Farrow, and finally Barbara Marx. He stayed with Marx until his death in 1998.

11/26/2024

Art Along The Road – The Mysterious “Stillwater Banksy”
In early 2024 people in and around the Sussex County township of Stillwater began seeing strange artwork affixed to trees along roadsides throughout the area. The paintings depicted a variety of animals and people, all rendered on plywood, cut to the shape of the subject they portrayed. In the months that followed, more and more of the mysterious portraiture would appear in seemingly random locations. No one seemed to know who was responsible, or had ever witnessed anyone hanging the works.

Since nobody knew who the artist was, and no one ever took any credit for the displays, people began to refer them as the “Stillwater Banksy,” a reference to the England-based street artist Banksy, whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, Banksy’s works of political and social commentary have appeared publicly visible surfaces, such as streets, walls, and bridges throughout the world. Like their pseudonymous namesake, Stillwater Bank’s work too was always displayed in publicly visible places, though sometimes on privately owned property.

People who had seen the painting began photographing the works and posting photos to social media sites. Everyone seem curious as to who the mysterious artist might be.

This past spring, we received a covert communication from a surreptitious someone who claimed to be the artist in question. All of their credentials seemed to check out, so we set up an appointment to meet the mysterious man (or woman) behind the Stillwater Banksy moniker. Their only stipulation was the we not reveal their true identity (or even gender) or exact whereabouts. We met in an undisclosed area in rural Sussex County to get their story. You can read the full interview in the latest issue of Weird NJ magazine, #63.

11/24/2024

The Pine Barrens’ Forest of Lost Souls
The following story and photos were submitted by Weird NJ contributor Darina Evstafeva.
“This past summer I was hiking in the Maurice River in the vicinity of Port Elizabeth. I had planned to find and film the remains of Fries Mill. I didn't manage to film anything significant, but on my way back to the car, I decided to make a loop around a lake close to the NJ Silica Company ruins. Then I stumbled upon a weird and frightening location in Pine Barrens. Dozens of posters of missing persons flyers (of both men and women, some missing since as long ago as 1975) had been taped up on trees, with lots of US flags stuck in the ground around them. It looked pretty disturbing, like some sort of altar. I got away promptly.” –From the current issue of Weird NJ, #63

11/22/2024

The Rock House, located in Parsippany, can be found adjacent to someone’s backyard on Dale Street. In 1973 there was a discovery of prehistoric Indian petroglyphs on the walls of this natural outcrop of bedrock. Deposited by glaciers over 10,000 years ago, the Rock House provided shelter for native Americans from 3000 to 1000 B.C., and then again during the middle Woodland period (500 A.D. to 1600 A.D.)

Weird New Jersey contributor Rich Romano paid a visit to the site this week and took some photos of the ancient inscriptions. You can read more about this and other similar ancient sites found throughout the state at the links in the comments below.

Archeologists that have been surveying the area and rocks claim that the Indians who lived here did not stay all year round, and have found a variety of stone tools and hunting implements. There was also evidence that the Indians butchered animals on the site, cooked them, then carried them off to other locations.

The petroglyphs seemed to have been carved into the granite with a sharp-pointed stone pick, but experts admit that they do not know what the symbols meant. The Morris County Heritage Commission reported in a brochure that the carvings were animals that indicated star patterns. One was a drawing of an animal with its mouth open, and two depressions for eyes. Below it are two other oval-like shapes that seemed to represent human faces.

Others are skeptical about the authenticity of the carvings, claiming that they could not have been made by local Len Lenape Indians, but pre-date the European discovery of America. There are no markers indicating where the petroglyphs are located, and many who visit this mysterious ancient rock dwelling have yet to find them, but many come to see if they can.

11/22/2024

Police say ‘Big Rusty Wildfire' in Burlington County is ‘suspicious'

A wildfire that ignited next to a large piece of art and came dangerously close to nearby homes in Burlington County earlier this week is now considered to be suspicious.

11/20/2024

Now back in stock – our Weird NJ Unexplained poster, featuring all the weird, wonderful and wacky unexplained attractions of New Jersey!

From creepy cryptid creatures to ghostly ghouls and otherworldly entities, this beautifully designed piece of wall art will keep you coming back again and again for another look. There's even a "Hunt for the Unexplained" game included right in the artwork! This standard 18" x 24" size makes framing your poster simple.

And we have another great poster too: Ghosts of the Garden State!

SPECIAL OFFER: Get BOTH Weird NJ Posters for one low price!

11/19/2024

WILDFIRE THREATENS "BIG RUSTY" TROLL IN HAINESPORT
Fire crews are battling two wildfires that started in New Jersey on Monday including one very close to a residential neighborhood.

Dubbed the the "Big Rusty Wildfire" the blaze started in a wooded area of Creek Turn Park in Hainesport along Bancroft Lane and Lenox Drive. It is home to "Big Rusty," a troll built out of metal, cement and wood in 2023 by Danish artist Thomas Dambo on the site of a former factory.

The wildfire has burned 40 acres and is 50% contained as of 8 a.m. Twenty homes that were initially threatened in a development off Route 38 are now considered safe.

20 structures were threatened by a wildfire burning in Hainesport, Burlington County on Monday. People should avoid the area.

11/17/2024

Happy birthday to the one and only Danny DeVito, who was born on this day, November 17, 1944 in Neptune, NJ. Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. is an actor, comedian and filmmaker who is seen here in his 1962 yearbook photo from Oratory Preparatory School in Summit, NJ, and in scenes from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (with Neptune City’s own Jack Nicholson), Taxi, Batman Returns and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 80 years young today.