readfilesync return Buffer
squadJSON = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./squads/squad' + whichSquad + '.json', 'utf8'));
Good Gaur
squadJSON = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./squads/squad' + whichSquad + '.json', 'utf8')); const fs = require('fs');
const buf = fs.readFileSync('./package.json');
buf instanceof Buffer; // true
buf; // '<Buffer 7b 0a 20 20 22 6e 61 6d 65 22 ...>'