Incident At Exeter/Muscarello Case
September 3, 1965
Exeter, NH
Excerpt below taken directly from:
Hynek, J. Allen . "The Hynek UFO Report" . paperback, pp
154-166 . Dell Publishing Co. 1977 : which included
material
therein from Blue Book files.
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The "Incident at Exeter" - September 3, 1965 *
Dr. Hynek: "Incident" is hardly the term for this
classic Close Encounter case which is known to virtually
all who have followed the UFO phenomenon. This
encounter at Exeter, New Hampshire gained national
prominence, and caused both the original witnesses and
the Air Force considerable embarrassment. Not only is
this a fine example of a Close Encounter of the First
Kind, but it is a showcase illustration of Blue Book
negligence, put-down of witnesses, attempts to explain
away the testimony of responsible witnesses with a
parade of "official" explanations, and of capitulation
on the part of the Pentagon which, months later, had to
admit that the case should have been carried as
"Unidentified." The file folders in Blue Book,
however, still have the original evaluation of
"Astro-Stars/Planets" and "Aircraft for Operation Big
Blast." (The astronomical evaluation is completely
untenable and Operation Big Blast terminated more than
an hour before the incident at Exeter began, according
to official records.)
The story of this case is well documented in John
Fuller's book "The Incident at Exeter," and in an
excellent report by Raymond Fowler and his associates,
who did a far better job investigating
the case than did Blue Book. I am indebted to Mr. Fowler
for the excerpts from his report that follow. Blue Book
files on this case are fairly extensive in themselves
although they draw heavily on the report by Mr. Fowler.
Blue Book's first mention of the incident at Exeter is
dated October 15, 1965, and comes in the form of a
request from the Headquarters of the 817th Air Division
(SAC) at Pease AFB, New
Hampshire. Written by their Director of Information for
the Commander, and addressed to the Information Officer
at Wright-Patterson AFB, it reads:
| There have been an unusually high number of
reported sightings of unidentified flying
objects in the Pease AFB, New Hampshire, area
which have been the subject of much discussion
and numerous newspaper, radio and television
reports. Many of these sightings have been
reported to this base and your records will show
that we have performed thorough investigations
of the . . . Several members of this command
have actually been called to view UFOs by
sincere and sober citizens but as yet, we have
always been too late or "unlucky." The most
interesting sighting, in the nearby town of
Exeter, aroused special interest as two
policemen saw the object at very close range. .
.
This office has, of course, not commented on
sightings reported to the Air Force other than
to say that they have been or are being
investigated, that the reports will be sent to
your organization, that further releases will
be made from the Public Information Office of
the Secretary of the Air Force, etc. The fact
that we cannot comment on the investigations
has led to somewhat alarming suspicion of Air
Force motives and interest in this area, the
most
popular belief being that "...the Air Force
won't release the truth because if the truth
were known, everyone would be panicked." I
have attempted to counter this by explaining
the USAF's interest in this matter every time
I speak to the press or private citizens about
this matter. . . Still, however, an alarming
number of people remain unconvinced {!}.
Many members of the two nearby Military
Affairs committees and key citizens from
surrounding towns and cities have inquired
concerning the possibility of an Air Force
speaker on this subject. Do you operate a
speaker's bureau or would you be able to
suggest where I might be able to obtain
knowledge of an Air Force spokesman who could
explain the Air Force UFO program and what
happens to reports sent to your organization?
If speakers from your organization are
available, it might be possible for us to
arrange transportation via Pease Base C-47,
Billeting poses no problem.
Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
For
the Commander
A.B.B.,
1st Lt. USAF
Director
of Information
|
.
. .
Dr. Hynek: The initial report which came in from
Pease AFB on September 15, 1965, was the soul of
brevity.
"The following report
of an unidentified object is
hereby submitted in accordance with AFR-200-2.
A) Description of Object
1) round
2) baseball
3) bright red
4) five red
lights in a row
5) lights were
close together and moved as one object
6) none
7) none
8) none
9) extremely
bright red
B) Description of Course of Object
1) visual
sighting
2) object was
at an altitude of approximately 100 feet
and moved in an arc of 135 degrees
3) object
disappeared at an altitude of approximately
one hundred feet on a magnetic heading of
approximately 160 degrees
4) the object
was erratic in movement and would
disappear behind houses and building in the
area.
It would then appear at a position other than
where
it disappeared. When in view, it would act as
a
floating leaf.
5) object
departed on a heading of 160 degrees and was
observed until it disappeared in the distance
6) one hour
C) Manner of Observation
1)
ground-visual
2) none
3) N/A
D) Time and Date of Sighting
1) 3/9/0600 Z
2) night
E) Location of Observer
1) 3 nautical
miles SW of Exeter in New Hampshire
F) Identifying Information of Observer
1) civilian,
Norman J. Muscarello, age 18.... appears
to be reliable.
2) civilian,
Eugene F. Bertrand, Jr., age 30, Exeter
Police Department, Exeter, New Hampshire,
patrolman, reliable
3) civilian,
David R. Hunt, age 28, Exeter Police
Department, Exeter, New Hampshire, patrolman,
reliable
G) Weather and Winds
1) weather was
clear with no known weather phenomena.
There was a five-degree inversion from surface
to
5,000'.
2) winds at
Pease AFB (the winds were uniformly from
the west, low velocity near the surface to
quite
high above 10,000')
3) clear
(unlimited)
4) 30 nautical
miles
5) None
6) None
H) None
I) None
J) None
K) Major David H. Griffin, Base Disaster
Control Officer,
Command pilot
1) at this time
I have been unable to arrive at a
probably cause of this sighting. The three
observers seem to be stable, reliable persons,
especially the two patrolmen. I viewed the
area of
the sighting and found nothing in the area
that
could be the probable cause. Pease AFB had
five
B-47 aircraft flying in the area during this
period
but I do not believe that they had any
connection
with this sighting.
|
Dr. Hynek: The report in Blue Book continues with
the statements of the three witnesses involved. The
first, from Norman Muscarello, follows:
I, Norman J. Muscarello, was hitchhiking on
Rt. 150, three miles south of Exeter, New
Hampshire, at 0200 hours on the 3rd of
September. A group of five bright red lights
appeared over a house about a hundred feet from
where I was standing. The lights were in a line
at about a sixty-degree angle. They were so
bright, they lighted up the area. The lights
then moved out over a large field and acted at
times like a floating leaf. They would go down
behind the trees, behind a house and then
reappear. They always moved in the same
sixty-degree angle. Only one light would be on
at a time. They were pulsating: one, two, three,
four, five, four, three, two, one. They were so
bright I could not distinguish a form to the
object. I watched these lights for about fifteen
minutes and they finally disappeared behind some
trees and seemed to go into a field. At one time
while I was watching them, they seemed to come
so close I jumped into a ditch to keep from
being hit. After the lights went into a field, I
caught a ride to the Exeter Police Station and
reported what I had seen.
signed,
Norman
J. Muscarello |
Dr. Hynek: The statement from the first
patrolman, who after being called to the scene also
witnessed the UFO:
I, Eugene F. Bertrand, Jr., was cruising
on the morning of the 3rd of September at 0100
on Rt. 108 bypass near Exeter, New Hampshire. I
noticed an automobile parked on the side of the
road and stopped to investigate. I found a woman
in the car who stated she was too upset to
drive. She stated that a light had been
following her car and had stopped over
her car. I stayed with her about fifteen minutes
but was unable to see anything. I departed and
reported back to Exeter Police Station where I
found Norman Muscarello. He related his story of
seeing some bright red lights in the field.
After taking him back to where he stated that he
had seen the lights. When we had gone about
fifty feet, a group of five bright red lights
came from behind a group of trees near us. They
were extremely bright and flashed on one at a
time. The lights started to move around over the
field. At one time, they came so close I fell to
the ground and started to draw my gun. The
lights were so bright, I was unable to make out
any form. There was no sound or vibration but
the farm animals were upset in the area and were
making a lot of noise. When the lights started
coming near us again, Mr. Muscarello and I ran
to the car. I radioed Patrolman David Hunt who
arrived in a few minutes. He also observed the
lights which were still over the field but not
as close as before. The lights moved out across
the field at an estimated altitude of one
hundred feet, and finally disappeared in the
distance at the same altitude. The lights were
always in line at about a sixty-degree angle.
When the object moved, the lower lights were
always forward of the
others.
signed,
Eugene
F. Bertrand, Patrolman |
Dr. Hynek: From the
third witness:
| I, David R. Hunt, at about 0255 on the
morning of the 3rd of September, received a call
from Patrolman Bertrand to report to an area
about three miles southwest of Exeter, New
Hampshire. Upon arriving at the scene, I
observed a group of bright red lights flashing
in sequence. They appeared to be about one half
mile over a field to the southeast. After
observing the lights for a short period of time,
they moved off in a southeasterly direction and
disappeared in the distance. The lights appeared
to remain at the same altitude which I estimate
to be about one hundred feet.
signed,
David
R. Hunt, Patrolman
|
Dr. Hynek: Blue Book's way of dealing with these
witnesses' reports was to make every effort to locate
some type of aircraft operation in the area in question;
none was successful.
A news clip from the Amesbury News, Massachusetts,
stated that the UFO was identified as an "ad gimmick";
but Ray Fowler checked with the Skylight Aerial
Advertising Company and was advised that their aircraft
was _not_ flying on the night of September 3. He was
also informed that the company aircraft rarely flew into
southern New Hampshire, and when it did, it was usually
in the Salem and Manchester areas, miles away from
Exeter. Furthermore, he learned that the "Skylight"
aircraft does not carry red flashing lights; it carries
a rectangular sign with white flashing lights. Yet the
manager of the advertising company had stated to the
Amesbury News that "perhaps some UFOs reported in the
New Hampshire area could have been their aircraft."
Unfortunately, the press anxiously latched on to this
bit of irrelevant information to "explain" the Exeter
case.
The two simultaneous investigations of this case are an
interesting study in contrasts. The Air Force records
are at best sketchy, and focus essentially on attempts
at locating existing aircraft in the area; as usual,
Blue Book started out its investigation with a negative
premise. On the other
hand, Raymond Fowler and his associates made an
exhaustive examination of the case, keeping their minds
open at all times. Their final reports were duly
submitted to Blue Book.
The following is excerpted from Fowler's report, which
supplements Muscarello's statement to the Air Force
investigator:
.
. .
Muscarello reported the
incident to Desk Officer
Reginald Towland at about 1:45 A.M. EDT. Side view and
angle
view seen. He was hit with fear and hardly able to talk.
A
radio call was made to Officer Bertrand asking him to
return
to the station, pick up Muscarello, and investigate at
the
scene of the sighting which he did. Upon arriving at the
Carl
Dining field, the object was nowhere to be seen. After
waiting and looking from the cruiser for several
minutes,
Bertrand radioed headquarters that there was nothing
there
and that the boy must have been imagining things. It was
then suggested that he examine the field before
returning,
so Bertrand and Muscarello advanced into the field. As
the
police officer played his flashlight beam back and forth
over the field, Muscarello sighted the object rising
slowly
from behind some nearby trees and shouted. Bertrand
swung
around and saw a large dark object carrying a straight
row
of four extraordinarily bright, red, pulsating lights
coming
into the field at treetop level. It swung around toward
them
and just clearing a sixty-to seventy-foot tree and
seemingly
only one hundred feet away from them. Instinctively,
Officer
Bertrand drew his service revolver (he stated that
Muscarello shouted, "Shoot it!"), but thinking this
unwise,
replaced it and yelled to Muscarello to take cover in
the
cruiser. He told me (Fowler) that he was afraid that
they
both would be burnt by the blinding lights closing in on
them. They ran to the cruiser where Bertrand immediately
put
in a radio call to headquarters for assistance. Officer
Hunt
arrived within minutes, and the trio observed the object
move away over and below the tree line.
Dr. Hynek: Now let us return to the Blue
Book coverage for
a look at an interesting exchange of letters between the
then Major Quintanilla and the police officers involved.
Quintanilla states:
Our investigations and
evaluation of the sighting
indicates a possible association with the Air Force
operation "Big Blast." In addition to aircraft from this
operation, there were five (5) B-47 aircraft flying in
the
area during this period. Before final evaluation of your
sighting can be made, it is essential for us to know if
either of you witnessed any aircraft in the area during
this
time period, either independently or in connection with
the
observed object. Since there were many aircraft in the
area,
at he time, and there were no reports of unidentified
objects from personnel engaged in this air operation, we
might then assume that the objects observed between
midnight
and two A.M. might be associated with this military air
operation. If, however, these aircraft were noted by
either
of you, this would tend to eliminate this air operation
as a
possible explanation for the objects observed.
Signed,
Hector
Quintanilla, Jr.
Major,
USAF, Chief,
Project
Blue Book
/td>
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