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.
“Project Blue Book”27 pages
6041 Mr. EUGENE F. BERTRAND, Jr., Mr. DAVID R. HUNT, Exeter Police Department, 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 if either 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 unidentified 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 eliminate this air operation as a plausible explanation for the objects observed. Sincerely, HECTOR QUINTANILLA, Jr., Major, USAF, Chief, Project Blue Book. NOVEMBER 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 APR 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 of 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. ERIC T. DE JONCKMZERE, Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Deputy for Technology and Subsystems. NICAP MASSACHUSETTS INVESTIGATING SUBCOMMITTEE, Wenham, Mass., February 10, 1966. DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. (Attention: John P. Spaulding, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force, Chief, Civil Branch, Community Relations Division, Office of Information). 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 under it. 88 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.