Documents / Hearing transcript
This is an excerpt from the record of the April 5, 1966 House Armed Services Committee hearing on UFOs, which the Internet Archive holds. It includes correspondence about the September 3, 1965 Exeter, New Hampshire sighting involving Raymond E. Fowler, Project Blue Book and the Exeter police officers, plus a letter on the matter from Minority Leader Ford. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Major Hector Quintanilla and Secretary Harold Brown testify. They say the police officers' observation remains unidentified and that no radar data or jet scrambles were involved.
6041 Mr. EUOENE F. BERTRAND, Jr., Mr. DAVID R.HUNT, Exeter PoliceDepartment,Exeter, N.H. GENTLEMEN: The sighting of various unidentified objects by you and Mr. Nor. man Mascarello was investigated by officials from Pease Air Force Base, N.H., and their report has been forwarded to our office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This sighting at Exeter, N.H., on the night of September 2 has been given considerable publicity through various news releases and in magazine articles similar to that from the Saturday Review of October 2, 1965. A portion of this article is attached for your information. This information was released by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, a private Organization which has no connection with the Government. As a result of these articles, the Air Force has received inquiry as to the cause of this report. Our investigation and evaluation of this sighting indicates a possible associa- tion with an 8th Air Force operation, "Big Blast." In- addition to aircraft'from this operation, there were five B-47 type aircraft flying in the area during this period. Before a final evaluation of your sighting can be made, it is essential for us to know ifeither of you witnessed any aircraft in the area during this time period either independently or in connection with the objects observed. Since there were many aircraft in the area, at that time, and there were no reports of unidentifled objects from personnel engaged in this air operation, we might then assume that the objects observed between midnight and 2 a.m. might be asso- ciated with this military air operation. If, however, these aircraft were noted by either of you, then this would tend to elimintate this air operation as a plausible explanation for the objects observed. Sincerely, HECTOR QUINTANMLLA, Jr., Major, USAF, Chief, ProjectBlue Book. NOvElIBER 16, 1965. Memo: TDEW/UFO. Subject: UFO sighting. To: Hq 8th -Air Force. 1. A report of an unidentified flying object was submitted to our office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base by the 817 Combat Support Group, Pease Air Force Base. This report was submitted to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in accordance with AFR 200-2. Evaluation of information submitted indicates that the observation may be associated with the military operation, Big Blast. The location of the observation Was the New Hampshire area, in and around the town of Exeter. Time of the reported UFO was the night 9f August 2-3, 1965, and specifically 03/0500 to 0600 Zebra. This UFO report has received considerable publicity in newspaper and magazine articles, and the Air Force has received numerous queries regarding the cause of this sighting. 2. We would like to know the specific types of aircraft used in this operation and possible location of these aircraft at the time of the report. For the commander. -eico T. DE JONOKMZERE, Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Deputy for Teohnology and Subsysftem. NIOAP MASSAcHUSEVITS INVESTIGATING SUBCOMMITTEE. Wenham, Mass., February 10, 1966. DEPARTMENT OF TIRE AIR FORCE, Offlce of the Secretary, U.S. Air Porco, Washington, D.C. (Attention: John P. Spaulding, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force, Chief, Civil Branch, Community Relations Division, Office of Information). I DEAR COLONEL SPAULDING: Thank you for your correspondence of January 25, 1966, in response to my letter of November 24, 1965, regarding my inquiry con- cerning the September 3, 1965, UFO sightings in Exeter, N.H. I appreciate your letter and the attached backup information concerning which I would make the following comments.
Hearing transcript, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 37 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.