The Kecksburg UFO Crash - 1965
Something strange and still unknown flew through the skies of Canada, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania on December 5th 1965. Many eyewitnesses describe the strange unknown flying object as a “fireball” of some sort but they all said that it seemed to be under some sort of intelligent control as it turned toward Ohio. One of the very first reports of the day came from Frances Kalp who telephoned in her strange encounter to the radio station WHJB in Greensburg at 6:30pm that evening. She said she had seen a fiery object crash into a wooded area near her home in Westmoreland County, Kalp and her kids had approached the crash site within half a mile, and there they saw an odd object resembling a “four-pointed star”. Radio employee John Murphy immediately telephoned the report to the Pennsylvania State Police the police then phoned Kalp and arranged to meet her at Kecksburg. Murphy who contacted the police also raced down to the crash site he interviewed Kalp and her children for his report while the state police searched the woods for the crashed “four-pointed star” object. Murphy waited for the return of the searchers eagerly. When they finally completed the search Murphy was unable to get any clear information on the crash from either Carl Metz or Paul Shipco who were both in full charge of the search operation. The only information they gave was that they had contacted the Military and they were on their way to handle the case. Murphy then made a telephone call and made contact with Captain Dussia at the State Police HQ in Greensburg. Myrphy was instructed to visit the office to receive an official statement on the search party results. Upon his arrival to the HQ Murphy noticed that the Military had already arrived in force. Murphy was startled when he received the official statement which said - "The Pennsylvania State Police have made a thorough search of the woods. We are convinced that there is nothing whatsoever in the woods."
At this point Murphy was beginning to sense some sort of cover-up if there was nothing in the woods, then why would the Military be in full force at the police HQ. After turning in his report to the radio station Myrphy overheard a policeman involved in the search describe a “pulsating blue light” in the forest. Murphy was then told that Officer Metz and the Military force were going back into the woods, and to his surprise he was given permission to join in the search efforts. Murphy’s excitement soon changed when after he had accompanied the search party to the outskirts of the woods he was kept from going any further. Murphy witnessed the military sealing off the entire area and banning all civilians from the scene of the crash and the surrounding area. The crash story soon made its way to newspapers and TV stations and the area was quickly becoming occupied with people wanting to get first hand information on the event. It then became known that some very eager and interested residents had made a trip to the woods before the Military gained full control of the area. These few people were interviewed by Stan Gordon and told an amazing story they stated they saw a copper coloured saucer-shaped object crash into the woods. This craft was estimated as being anywhere between 9-12 feet in length and had a gold band around its bottom. Some also described seeing writing on the craft which resembled Egyptian hieroglyphics. These few witnesses were quickly told to leave once the Military Personnel discovered them. Later on in the night some witnessed a flatbed truck transporting a large object that was covered by a tarpaulin shortly after the departure of the flatbed truck many of the Military persons vacated the search area. After the amazingly active evening and night the next morning was ghostly and it was like nothing had ever happened. The Air Force concluded their investigation with the official statement that a meteor was responsible for the report of a glowing craft in the skies and also the crash in the woods at 6:30pm. The media all accepted this and the matter seemed to close and was not spoke of. That is until a 1990 television program was broadcast about Kecksburg on the “Unsolved Mysteries” program.
After the program was aired two brand new witnesses came forward one was a USAF officer at Lockbourne AFB. In the early hours of December 10th a truck arrived by the little used back gate of the base and he was ordered to patrol it. He described it was a flat bed trick with a large tarpaulin on the surface covering the object this explanation closely coincided with details from the witnesses who also witnessed a flat bed truck back near the crash scene on December 5th. He was then given a strict and forceful order to shot anyone who tried to get to close this really shows that the Military wanted nobody to get a look under the tarpaulin. He was told the truck was bound for Wright Patterson AFB a base that seems to be the common place for crashed objects.
The other witness that came forward as a result of this TV Program was a building contractor who was asked two days later to take a load of 6,500 special bricks to a hangar inside Wright Patterson AFB. When he sneaked a look inside the hangar he saw a bell-shaped device some 12 feet high just sitting there. Several men wearing white anti-radiation style suits were inspecting the crashed object. After he had been escorted out he was told that he had just seen an object that would become common knowledge in 20 years time.
Other strange details to this event were released by John Murphy’s widow who claims that her husband who was one of the first to the scene actually took photographs of the crashed disc but these photographs were taken by the Military and probably destroyed. And even if those photographs are still living they will probably be marked top secret anyway and will probably not be released.
Many who have researched this case have got testimony from first hand witnesses on being Investigator Clark McClelland who interviewed an assistant fire chief of Kecksburg named James Mayers and Melvin Reese another fireman. They reported that their team had come within sixty meters of the objects and they had seen an object on the ground that had smashed its way through the trees. Mayes explained how the Military had cordoned off the woods and had established a temporary base complete with a telecom link. Fire chief Robert Bitner would later confirm this story he also said he had seen an object that was around 6 feet height and 6 feet wide and some 15 feet in length and was clearly not an aircraft of any kind. It was reported that the object was resting at an angle in the ground as if it had impacted nearly horizontally. And then to add to the evidence yet another fire officer “Pete” stated he had seen a ring of bumpers around it which were described at pictorial symbols of some sort.
Then in 1990 a researcher from Pennsylvania Association for the Study of Unexplained who has a documentary on the cash entitled “Kecksburg the Untold Story” he is Stan Gordon and traced a first hand witness James Romansky. Romansky recalled seeing the object on the ground some 25 years previously when he was an 18 year old fire fighter he had been called to duty that night following concerns that an airplane had crashed. He described the object as being bronze in colour and shaped like an acorn some 12 feet long and 25 feet in diameter and had slightly raised blunt end and strange markings his description coincided with many others from the night of the crash he stated - “It had writing on it, not like your average writing, but more like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. It had sort of a bumper on it, like a ribbon about six to 10 inches wide, and it stood out. It was elliptical the whole way around and the writing was on this bumper. It’s nothing like I've ever seen, and I'm an avid reader. I read a lot of books on Egypt, the Incas, Peruvians, Russians and I've never to this day come across anything that looked like that."
And if that was not enough eyewitness testimony UFOcasebook.com received information on the crash in 2005 the witness states they saw the object fly over Kecksburg the witness stated: I was on some site about the Kecksburgh sighting. It told the story and asked if anyone had an opinion about it. Well I lived in Pittsburgh at the time that this occurred. Brian Vike wrote about his experience, and when I read it I was floored. I had forgotten about this ever happening until I watched the Brian Gumbel special. Brian Vike also said he recalled the incident. His sighting and mine are so simular. I was at a drivein movie that night with my boyfriend. He wanted to get there early to get a good spot. I can't remember how long after we arrived there when it happened. All of a sudden the sky lit up. "What the heck is that I ask?" The sphere or the ball like object was very low in the sky and was burning and had a long firey tail. The color to me had a greenish color to it. I would say it was in my view for at least 4 seconds, maybe 5 seconds. But of course in those days we thought it was only a meteor. And the next day it was confirmed on the radio it was. After all these years that have passed it's truly amazing to me how much of it I can still remember.
And that is the amazing story of the Kecksburg crash which is a crash that has many interesting details and many witnesses that have gradually and over time come forward and released there information. Testimony ranging from the Military, Fire fighters, Police, Radio Presenters and civilians those were there to see strange things in Kecksburg. It is certain that something crashed in Kecksburg but what that was remains to be uncovered.
Written by Sam Willey