Drakestown, NJ being encounter — December 30, 1957

George Chowanski, an automobile mechanic living near Drakestown, New Jersey, reported a strange object close to his home during the night of December 30, 1957. His dogs’ barking and howling drew his attention, accompanied by a whirring noise compared with an electric shaver. His wife also saw the object, although a later report says she retreated indoors in fear. The luminous oval or saucerlike object was described as roughly fifteen feet long and five feet high, hovering within about two feet of the ground. Figures emerged from underneath, moved around the clearing and returned after one picked up something from the ground. The object then departed. Duration estimates are only a few minutes. The Atlas and a 1958 Saucer News notice describe three figures; Vallée’s catalogue instead gives two. Saucer News says publication followed a delay because Chowanski feared ridicule, and refers to a March 25 announcement rather than dating the encounter itself to March. Detailed occupant anatomy, clothing and the nature or weight of the object retrieved are not securely described. The compressed phrase about heavy cargo therefore does not justify depicting a large boulder or machinery. Neither a recovered specimen nor an authenticated photograph was located. The plate follows the three-figure version with indistinct silhouettes and explicitly notes the disagreement in count.