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