Documents / Hearing transcript
This is the printed transcript of an April 5, 1966 hearing of the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services on unidentified flying objects. Air Force Secretary Harold Brown testified that 9,501 of 10,147 sightings from 1947 through 1965 had been identified and that no threat or extraterrestrial evidence had been found. The record includes the Scientific Advisory Board ad hoc committee report recommending university studies and the Air Force's marsh gas explanation for the Dexter and Hillsdale, Michigan sightings. Members also questioned J. Allen Hynek and Maj. Hector Quintanilla about the Exeter, New Hampshire case.
6018 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 tree top level. It swung around toward them just clearing a 60- to 70-foot tree and seemingly only 100 feet away from them. Instinctively Officer Bertrand drew his service revolver. (He stated that Muscarello said that he shouted "I'll shoot it!") but thinking this unwise replaced it and yelled to Muscarello to take cover in the cruiser. He told me that he was afraid that they both would be burned 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. Data (sighting No. 3)—Based on signed questionnaires and interviews with Officers Bertrand and Hunt. There is confusion concerning the exact times of the sighting. The police stated that the newspaper account stated that Muscarello arrived at the station at 12 a.m. is incorrect and that it was probably close to 2 a.m., e.d.t. I have arbitrarily assigned the time as being 1:45 a.m., e.d.t., after taking every- thing into consideration. Muscarello's mother also thought it was closer to 2 a.m. Perhaps after my interview with Muscarello, I will be able to pinpoint the time more exactly. Based upon the 1:45 a.m. time and the fact that when the trio returned to headquarters and reported the sighting No. 3 to Desk Officer Towland at exactly 2:55 a.m., I figure that sighting No. 3 took place approxi- mately between 2:25 and 2:40 a.m. Sighting No. 3 took place over the field of Carl Dining in Kensington, N.H., on Route 150 about 3 miles south of Exeter, N.H. The duration of the observation was about 10 minutes by Officer Bertrand and Norman Muscarello and about 5 minutes by Officer Hunt when he joined the pair at the field. There was no trace of daylight at the sighting time. The weather was dry and cool with a slight breeze. Observing conditions were excellent. The moon had set at 11:15 p.m., e.d.t., and the sky was studded with stars. The exact shape of the object could not be seen by either police officer although Bertrand told me that it seemed compressed as if it were round or egg-shaped with definitely no pro- trusions like wings, rudder or stabilizer. I hope to obtain more details from Muscarello concerning the shape, size, and so forth of the object. The object carried at least four extremely brilliant pulsating red lights which appeared to flash in a steady sequence. They were arranged in a fixed straight line position. Officer Bertrand said that they were brighter than any light he had ever seen and at close range he found that he could not look directly at them. He had the impression that he and Muscarello might have been burned if they did not run from the object as it approached then. He compared their brightness to that of automobile headlights shining directly in one's face at less than several yards away. The manner in which they pulsated gave Bertrand the distinct im- pression that this was an intelligently constructed vehicle and definitely not some natural phenomenon. The lights were definitely seen to be part of a large dark solid object. The reflection off the object's body caused a halo effect around it. Both officers had eyeglasses on when viewing the object. Neither officer would give an estimate of how large the object itself was although Bertrand was quoted to have said that it was as "big as a house." Bertrand told me that it was very large but the lights obscured it preventing him from seeing enough of it to know how large. When Officer Hunt arrived the object had moved off so what he thinks he only saw two of the lights. I was, however, able to obtain a statement from Bertrand concerning the apparent size of the object. He stated that when the object was at its closest that it was almost the apparent size of a "grapefruit" held at arm's length. When he first sighted it the size seemed to be that of a "baseball" held at arm's length. He estimated that it was 200 yards away when he first spotted it after Muscarello shouted. He said that at its closest approach it just cleared a nearby 60- to 70-foot tree. He said the object was very close and that it appeared to be about 100 feet away. While viewing it from the cruiser it manuvered over the field at about 500 yards away before moving out over the tree line. As it moved the object seemed to tilt back and forth from side to side. The sighting area was open countryside with farms, fields, and woods. The object was first seen in the northeast and last seen in the north moving in an east
Hearing transcript, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 88 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.