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.
“Exeter”18 pages
6016
Joseph
Rodina
also
informed
me
that
his
aircraft
rarely
flies
into
southern
New
Hampshire
and
when
it
does
it
is
usually
in
the
Salem
and
Manchester
area, miles
away
from
the
Exeter
area.
He
told
me
that
he had
told
the
Amesbury
News
that
perhaps
some UFO's
reported
in
New
Hampshire
could
have
been
his
aircraft.
Unfortunately,
this
newspaper
used
his
statement
to
explain
the
sightings
in
the
Seabrook
area
which
borders
Kensington,
N.H.
The
"Sky-Lite"
aircraft*
does not carry
red
flashing
lights.
It
carries
a
rec-
tangular sign carrying
white
flashing
lights.
It
was
not
airborne
during
the
southeast
New
Hampshire
UFO
flap.
I have
notified
the
Amesbury
News
of
the
true
facts
and
have
asked
them
to
set
the
record
straight.
I
am
issuing
this
addendum
to
avoid further
confusion.
RAYMOND
E. FOWLER,Chairman,
NICAP
Massachusetts
Subcommittee.
[From
the
Amesbury
(Mass.)
News,
Oct. 6,
1965]
UFO
IDENTIFIED
AS
AD
GIMMICK
The
unidentified
flying
object spotted
in
this
area
by
many
residents
has
finally
been
identified.
It's
a
flying
billboard
which
contains
500
high
-intensity
lights
that
spell
out
an
advertising
message.
The
electronic billboard
is
towed
by
a
specially
rigged
light
aircraft
owned
by
Sky-Lite
Aerial Advertising
Agency
of
Boston
and
piloted
by
Daniel
C. Vale of
Londonderry,
N.H.
_
Recently the
rig
has
been flown over
the
Amesbury,
Seabrook,
and
southern
New
Hampshire
area carrying
the
advertising
message,
"Put
a
Tiger
in Your
Tank—See
Your
Esso
Dealer."
However,
when
spotted
from an
angle
not
directly
below
the
aircraft,
it
gives
the appearance
of
a
flying
saucer, quite
like
the
"UFO's"
described
by
the area
residents.
A
spokesman
for
the
firm said
the
sign
is
10
feet
wide
and
40
feet long.
"The
plane
can
turn
on
a
dime,
and
when
it
turns,
it
gives
the
appearance
of
beingstationary,"
the
spokesman
said.
Earlier
flights
of the
night
-flying
billboard
south
of Boston
also
prompted
a
flash
to
UFO
reports before
the
"secret"
was
discovered.
UFO
SUMMARY
SHEET
('FO
reports—Sept.
3,
1966
Number
Witness—Name
and
address
Age
Location
of
UFO
sighting
Time
e.d.t.
1
2
and
3
Unidentified
woman
motorist
Norman
J. Muscarelle,
205
Front
St.,
Exeter,
N.H.
18
Route
10L,
Epping
to Exeter,
N.H.
Route
150,
Kensington,
N.H.
Russell
and
Dining
proper-
ties.
—12:30
a.m.
±1:00 a.m.
±2:25 a.m.
3
Officer
Eugene F.
Bertrand (Exeter
32
_do
Do.
Police
Department)
Pickpocket
Road,
Exeter,
N.H.
3
Officer
David
R.
Hunt,
11
Charles 26 _do
±2:35 a.m.
St.,
Exeter,
N.H.
(Exeter
Police
Department)
4
Officer
David
R. Hunt
Route
85/101
Bypass,
Exeter,
N.H.
3:30
a.m.
5
Unidentified
man
Hampton,
N.H
Early a.m.
•
'Not
available.
BACKGROUND
I
received
news
of the
sighting
through newsclips
and from a
friend
whose
niece is
a policewoman for the Exeter, N.H., Police
Department. I
arrived at
the Exeter
police station
at 6:40
a.m.,
on September
11,
and
interviewed
Officer
*NoTE.—This
aircraft
flies
out of Beverly Airport, Beverly, Mass. Usually the
aircraft
flies
along the coast to Boston and
back. It rarely is
airborne after
11 p.m. Hearing transcript, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 88 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.