SIGHTING: WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"My wife and i while trail biking in a remote area inside mercer county park were startled by a huge "bird" that took off from a tree at approximately 15 feet up directly in front of us while we stopped for a brief moment. this was on the narrow trail by the creek that feeds the backside of the dam. i am a retired law enforcement officer. i was very much concerned by this observation and felt that this encounter was unnatural by the size of this creature. my wife was not concerned and wanted to go follow it. i had a feeling that we might be in jeopardy and i wanted to leave immediately. the bird had a wing span over 10 feet and was larger that anything natural i have ever seen fly. it made no sound and when it left the tree directly in front of us it glided approximately 50 feet into a row of trees across the creek and i couldn't see it land. she wanted to follow it and i had this feeling of doom and wanted to leave. i knew it was unnatural and there was a sense of impending doom to me. i couldn't readily see a head, beak, tail, legs or claws. this "bird" was the size of a small hang glider. i know hawks, buzzards, vultures, and the different kinds of flying creatures in the surrounding habitat. i am a outdoors person and have grown up in this environment. i am familiar with all that live in the habitat. when this thing glided away from the tree i focused on the right wing and it had a perpendicular multi colored pattern of gray, black and brown in varying shades. the sheer size and mass of this thing was nothing i have ever seen before. the clincher beyond the sheer size and mass of this thing was the erie alarming feeling i had when i saw it that told me to leave."