The Morristown UFO hoax
Red lights floated over Morristown, New Jersey, from 5 January 2009. Two local men later said they had launched them as a hoax.
On Monday 5 January 2009, between 8:15 and 9:00 pm, floating red lights appeared in the sky near Morristown, New Jersey. They came back on four more nights: 26 and 29 January, and 7 and 17 February. Hanover police began taking 911 calls, drivers stopped at the roadside to look, and local and national news stayed on the story. Self-described UFO experts told viewers the lights were extraterrestrial.
On 1 April 2009 two local men, Joe Rudy together with Chris Russo, announced that they had done it. In an article for Skeptic Magazine they said they tied flares with fishing line to five helium balloons, lit the flares and released them in a field on 5 January, filming the results. They said their aim was to show the weakness of eyewitness testimony, and of the people who investigate UFOs.
Weird NJ and Wikipedia report that the two later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges. Patch reports that some people still dispute the confession.
"The 2009 Morristown UFO hoax[1][2] was a series of aerial events involving mysterious floating red lights in the sky, that first occurred near Morristown, New Jersey, on Monday, January 5, 2009, between 8:15 pm and 9:00 pm. The red lights were later observed on four other nights: January 26, January 29, February 7, and February 17, 2009. The events were later revealed to be a hoax, perpetrated by Joe Rudy and Chris Russo."