Mystery Ship

Written by Ralph Grassi

Back in the spring of 2003 it was rumored that the spacecraft which was once part of the Planet of the Apes ride on Morey's Pier through the 70's, was spotted in a secluded area off of Rt.47 in Maurice River Township, New Jersey. After hearing of this I went in search of the mystery ship, checking every side road in that area until finally locating the spot that it must have been. It was obvious, for the property was littered with amusement type scrap...yet no ship. I made one more trip back with a friend for a last thorough look-see. With no success I conceded and moved on to other things.

Summer passed and soon came October...along with my new issue of Weird NJ. To my delight, when I turned to page 63…there was the spaceship being trucked up Broad Street in Bridgeton (home of Pretzel Amusement Ride Co. I might add) to its new home in Hancock's Harbor in historic Greenwich, NJ. Imagine this thing going down the street! It measures 26-foot-wide and almost 14-foot-high. I was so excited to see that it really was still around. I went right up to check it out.

The new owner of the UFO is Scott Gifford, who also owns the Bait Box Restaurant and Hancock Harbor Marina. Apparently the amusement had been parked in Delmont for the last 10 years until Scott purchased it from former owner Tom Platt. He plans on having it refurbished and repainted and making it a sales office or gift shop. Scott also clued me in on another interesting fact about this one-time Morey attraction. The ship was originally designed in the 60's by an architect named Matti Suuronen, and was known as a Futuro House. Suuronen's thought was that they could be used as a ski-cabin or weekend getaway. His plan was to mass produce these objects but that never came to be. Thanks to Scott this lost attraction is found, and a piece of Wildwood History is preserved.

If you would like to visit this lost Wildwood attraction just head to The Bait Box Restaurant and Hancock's Harbor Marina in Greenwich NJ. Ask to see "Dusty" when you're there. You'll be sure to smile.

For more information on Futuro Houses check out these links:

http://home.wanadoo.nl/imagineer/mags/mag10.htm

http://www.futuro-house.net

http://www.angelfire.com/home/futurohouse/

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