SUBJECT: KECKSBURG CRASH CONTROVERSIAL
FILE: UFO14
PART 1 OF 2
This final article in a six-part series on unidentified flying
objects (UFOS) examines one of the most talked about and controversial
incidents in the area, what has been termed a meteorite by some and
an
alien craft by others, which crashed in Kecksburg December 9, 1965.
The object was first seen streaking across the sky, with
thousands from Michigan to New York witnessing a brilliant ball of
fire which left a smoke trail, visible for about 20 minutes after it
passed.
Many, including pilots who observed it, thought it was an
aircraft which was on fire. Reports of debris from the object were
made in many states, and an Ohio fire department was called to
extinguish 10 small fires in an area where witnesses said they saw
flaming fragments falling from the sky.
Shock waves were reported by pilots, and a seismograph near
Detroit recorded a shock, wrote investigator Stan Gordon, of
Pennsylvania Association for the Study of the Unexplained (PASU) in
a
recent journal article. The crash has been a pet project of the
Greensburg man "since the night it happened," he said, noting he is
still trying to obtain information on the incident.
Although the military eventually labeled the object a meteor,
as
did the Associated Press account published in The Bulletin the day
after the crash, Gordon says recent evidence, including the discovery
of a man who saw the object, supports the idea that the object was
a
true UFO.
"I was a teenager then," said John (not his real name). "It
was
in the early part of December and there was a little snow and a little
rain, and mud."
He was called to the scene after the 4:44 p.m. crash as a fireman
from the Latrobe area, to search for the crashed object.
"I had seen a fiery object in the sky. I can't say exactly which
direction but it was coming from the north. It was not too much
longer and the fire whistle went off," he said. "I answered the call
and was told they needed a search team because at the time they
believed it was a downed aircraft. And I thought, 'My God, this is
what I have just seen'."
When firemen arrived at the Kecksburg Fire Hall, maps were
reviewed and groups were given sections to search.
"It was getting semi-dusk and we had flashlights. We were taken
in the back of a truck and dropped off and told to go 'this way' which
we did. I was not on the initial contact team. Another team found
the object.
"It was definitely, unequivocally, positively, absolutely no
aircraft, plane, helicopter or rocket, at least not to my knowledge.
It was in an area that was part field and part woods and we went down
to investigate," he said.
"We found the object had crashed at a 30 to 40 degree angle, and
had broken off numerous tree branches in its impact path. My initial
reaction was 'This is no airplane.' I observed no shrapnel, no
breaking up of the fuselage. It was one solid piece, no doors, no
windows.
"Preliminary searches found no bodies or casualties. It was
shaped like an acorn, laying on its side, like the acorn nut is in
its
shell when it's on a tree," he explained. "I've been a machinist for
24 years and I've worked with a tremendous amount of different metals,
and I have never seen any type of metal that looked even close to
that."
John said the object was not broken, "not even cracked, just
dented a bit. It did not give off smoke, steam or vapors, at least
none that we could see."
Reports from neighbors in the area said it had given off a faint
trail of blue smoke, which disappeared after the crash.
He described the portion visible as between eight and 10 feet
long, six and seven feet across, and said a man of average height
would probably have had little trouble standing up inside it. The
creator it plowed into the ground was "rectangular in shape."
Continued in part 2 >
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