On December 9th, 1965 a large fireball was seen by thousands of people in Ontario, Canada and several US States. Several eye witnesses reported metal debris falling from the sky followed by a sound that resembled sonic booms. Was this mysterious event, referred to as the Kecksburg incident, truly just a meteor as reported by the press?
Kecksburg, PA, a small town about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh made news when an unidentified object crashed in the woods on December 9th, 1965. The FAA had received several reports from airline pilots who had seen the object flying at high speed towards earth. A seismograph near Detroit had recorded shock waves during that same time. A woman and her son claimed to have seen something land in the near-by forest followed by blue smoke arising at the approximate site of the supposed landing. Volunteers for the local fire department reported finding a strange object about the size of a small car. Writing that resembled Egyptian Hieroglyphics were noticed towards the bottom of this strange machine. Witnesses had also reported that the military had secured the area, ordered people to leave while they removed the object. At the same time, the military claimed that they had searched the entire forest and hadn’t found one single piece of evidence. This led to the official explanation that the Kecksburg incident was nothing more than a meteor.
John Murphy, a reporter for the local radio station WHJB had received calls to the station from citizens on December 9th, 1965. He had arrived at the scene before local authorities, taking plenty of photographs and conducting interviews. Murphy wrote a radio documentary, featuring his experience. The documentary was never aired though as he had received an unexpected visit from two government officials. The meeting had lasted about 30 minutes. Most audiotapes, pictures, negatives, rolls of film were confiscated. One week later, Murphy aired an edited version of the documentary which apparently was entirely different from the original version.
After the airing, Murphy stopped further investigation on the case. He refused to talk to anyone about the Kecksburg incident. Whether he refused to talk to anyone about it or was ordered to do so by the government will remain a secret as Murphy was struck and killed by an unidentified car a couple of years later.
In 2003, the Sci Fi Channel sponsored a scientific study related to the Kecksburg incident. Scientists had provided physical evidence that something did land in the woods during that time. One scientist even suggested ice damage to trees. No soil damage or large crater was formed during the apparent crash. This was enough evidence to scientifically rule out a crash landing such as the one of the apparent meteor.
In 2005, NASA released a statement that confirmed the findings of metallic fragments in the woods, believed to be from a Russian satellite. Why did NASA confirm these findings almost 40 years after the incident, contradicting the statement of the military that no evidence had been found.
According to the government and the media, the Kecksburg incident is known as nothing but a meteor. Covering up facts and removing evidence would definitely convince the general public. Nevertheless a large number of people are certain that the incident was more than just a meteor falling from the sky.
