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That strange thing over Exeter
a sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO) occurred in Exeter, New Hampshire, which involved the police and a Navy man named Norman Muscatello.
On September 3, 1965, a sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO) occurred in Exeter, New Hampshire, which involved the police and a Navy man named Norman Muscatello. The incident began when a teenager named Norman Muscarello reported seeing a glowing object in the sky while walking home from a friend’s house around 2 a.m.
Upon reaching his house, Muscarello reported what he saw to his mother and then to the local police department. Officer Eugene Bertrand was dispatched to investigate, but he too saw the strange lights in the sky, which he described as “red, orange, and white.”
Another officer, David Hunt, also witnessed the object and described it as a “huge object with flashing red lights.” The officers followed the object for several miles, eventually losing sight of it.
However, the following night, the police received more reports of a UFO sighting in the area. This time, Officer Bertrand and Officer Hunt were joined by Officer Ronald Aubert, and they encountered a strange object hovering over the trees.
As they approached the object, it suddenly took off, making a strange whistling sound. The officers reported that the object was approximately 80 feet long and 20 feet wide, and it had a red flashing light on top.
It was during this second sighting that Norman Muscatello, a Navy man stationed at the nearby Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, also witnessed the object. Muscatello claimed that the object had a metallic exterior and emitted a deafening noise before it took off at an incredible speed.
The sighting of the UFO in Exeter made national headlines, and it was widely reported in the media. Many people reported seeing strange lights in the sky in the days following the sighting, and it sparked a renewed interest in UFOs and extraterrestrial life.
Despite numerous investigations, no definitive explanation for the Exeter sighting has ever been found. However, the incident remains one of the most well-known and documented UFO sightings in American history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_incident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_incident#Skeptical_Inquirer_explanation
Air Force investigation and explanation
When Exeter’s police chief read the reports of Bertrand, Hunt, and Muscarello he called nearby Pease Air Force Base and reported a UFO sighting. The Air Force sent Major David Griffin and Lieutenant Alan Brandt to interview the three men. The Air Force officers asked all three men not to report their sighting to the press, but a reporter from the Manchester Union-Leader newspaper had already interviewed them. Major Griffin sent a report of the incident to the staff of Project Blue Book, the official Air Force research group assigned to investigate UFO reports. Griffin wrote that “At this time I have been unable to arrive at a probable 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 but I do not believe that they had any connection with this sighting.”
Before Project Blue Book could send this evaluation to the Pentagon, however, the Air Force had already issued an explanation of Muscarello and the two policemen’s sighting to the press. The Pentagon informed reporters that the three men had seen “nothing more than stars and planets twinkling … owing to a temperature inversion.” Project Blue Book then issued its own explanation, stating that “Operation Big Blast … a SAC/NORAD training mission” had been active on the night of the sighting and that it could have accounted for the UFO. Project Blue Book’s supervisor, USAF Major Hector Quintanilla, wrote policemen Bertrand and Hunt that “in addition to aircraft from this operation [Big Blast], there were also five B-47 aircraft flying in your area during this period … since there were many aircraft in the area, at the time, and there were no reports of unidentified objects from personnel engaged in this operation, we might then assume that the objects [you] observed between midnight and two a.m. might be associated with this military air operation.” Quintanilla also added that “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.” (wikipedia)
The Aftermath (according to wikipedia)
The Exeter UFO sightings — and particularly the initial sightings involving Norman Muscarello and police officers Eugene Bertrand and David Hunt — remain among the best-documented and best-publicized in UFO history. In 1966, Fuller published an account of his investigation into the case. Entitled Incident at Exeter, it made The New York Times Best Seller list. Muscarello, who insisted for the rest of his life that what he had witnessed was real and not an ordinary object, died in April 2003 at age 55 following a brief illness. Bertrand died in 1998, and Hunt in 2011. In 2010, the Exeter Kiwanis Club started the “Exeter UFO Festival” as a fundraiser to benefit children’s charities in the Exeter area.