Discussion the Credibility of Well Known UFO Cases

Duke

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As something of an amateur UFO historian, I thought it might be interesting to discuss specific UFO cases. To that end, I'll start the discussion by incrementally naming what I consider to be the three most credible cases, as well as three least credible cases. Some may disagree with the cases selected, or even their relative credibly, but hopefully that will only spark more discussion. I'll not go into great detail on each case as they are fairly well known, and a quick Google search can provide greater detail if desired.


#3 Most Credible Case
September 3, 1965--Near Exeter, NH

Better know as the "Incident at Exeter," this series of sightings was made famous by both a book and movie of the same title. Although UFOs were reported in the area by a number of people, those most associated with the "Incident" were the early morning sightings of an eighteen year, and then later the same morning, two police officers who responded to the young man's initial report. What was reported by the three men was a large craft with flashing red lights hovering silently about 100 feet off the ground. One of the officers even drew his service revolver, but thought better of taking a shot at the object.

A number of possible explanations for this sighting were offered by the USAF, including the men viewing the night sky through a temperature inversion, or military aircraft from nearby Pease AFB during a night exercise. Famed UFO debunker Phillip Klass contended the men saw a corena (plasma) discharge from high tension power lines. Eventually the USAF declared the sighting as an unknown. In 2011, an independent analysis (Skeptical Inquirer) came to the conclusion the men had witnessed a night aerial refueling of USAF bombers. I consider this unlikely as one of the two police officers who saw the object was a former USAF tanker crewman who would reasonably have been expected to know what an aerial refueling looked like. Sadly this officer had died about a decade earlier and was unable to refute the claim
 
As something of an amateur UFO historian, I thought it might be interesting to discuss specific UFO cases. To that end, I'll start the discussion by incrementally naming what I consider to be the three most credible cases, as well as three least credible cases. Some may disagree with the cases selected, or even their relative credibly, but hopefully that will only spark more discussion. I'll not go into great detail on each case as they are fairly well known, and a quick Google search can provide greater detail if desired.


#3 Most Credible Case
September 3, 1965--Near Exeter, NH

Better know as the "Incident at Exeter," this series of sightings was made famous by both a book and movie of the same title. Although UFOs were reported in the area by a number of people, those most associated with the "Incident" were the early morning sightings of an eighteen year, and then later the same morning, two police officers who responded to the young man's initial report. What was reported by the three men was a large craft with flashing red lights hovering silently about 100 feet off the ground. One of the officers even drew his service revolver, but thought better of taking a shot at the object.

A number of possible explanations for this sighting were offered by the USAF, including the men viewing the night sky through a temperature inversion, or military aircraft from nearby Pease AFB during a night exercise. Famed UFO debunker Phillip Klass contended the men saw a corena (plasma) discharge from high tension power lines. Eventually the USAF declared the sighting as an unknown. In 2011, an independent analysis (Skeptical Inquirer) came to the conclusion the men had witnessed a night aerial refueling of USAF bombers. I consider this unlikely as one of the two police officers who saw the object was a former USAF tanker crewman who would reasonably have been expected to know what an aerial refueling looked like. Sadly this officer had died about a decade earlier and was unable to refute the claim
Thanks for the posts, Duke. I'll do a search on Exeter
 
As something of an amateur UFO historian, I thought it might be interesting to discuss specific UFO cases. To that end, I'll start the discussion by incrementally naming what I consider to be the three most credible cases, as well as three least credible cases. Some may disagree with the cases selected, or even their relative credibly, but hopefully that will only spark more discussion. I'll not go into great detail on each case as they are fairly well known, and a quick Google search can provide greater detail if desired.


#3 Most Credible Case
September 3, 1965--Near Exeter, NH

Better know as the "Incident at Exeter," this series of sightings was made famous by both a book and movie of the same title. Although UFOs were reported in the area by a number of people, those most associated with the "Incident" were the early morning sightings of an eighteen year, and then later the same morning, two police officers who responded to the young man's initial report. What was reported by the three men was a large craft with flashing red lights hovering silently about 100 feet off the ground. One of the officers even drew his service revolver, but thought better of taking a shot at the object.

A number of possible explanations for this sighting were offered by the USAF, including the men viewing the night sky through a temperature inversion, or military aircraft from nearby Pease AFB during a night exercise. Famed UFO debunker Phillip Klass contended the men saw a corena (plasma) discharge from high tension power lines. Eventually the USAF declared the sighting as an unknown. In 2011, an independent analysis (Skeptical Inquirer) came to the conclusion the men had witnessed a night aerial refueling of USAF bombers. I consider this unlikely as one of the two police officers who saw the object was a former USAF tanker crewman who would reasonably have been expected to know what an aerial refueling looked like. Sadly this officer had died about a decade earlier and was unable to refute the claim

Can’t wait to read your second choice Duke.

Nice summation too.
 
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Duke, do you consider this to be one of the most credible cases because of the witnesses? Especially since some were police officers? One of the things I've heard a lot is "what makes a cop more credible than anyone else?" (This from the deniers of all.) I feel they, like pilots, have more on the line when they talk about sightings.
 
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Duke, do you consider this to be one of the most credible cases because of the witnesses? Especially since some were police officers? One of the things I've heard a lot is "what makes a cop more credible than anyone else?" (This from the deniers of all.) I feel they, like pilots, have more on the line when they talk about sightings.

One of the first things any trained investigator is taught is eyewitnesses are, in general, unreliable. However, when a number of eyewitnesses independently tell the same or very similar story, the corroboration gained from multiple sources tends to add credence to what all witnessed. Like the other two cases I will discuss here, the Exeter sighting was thoroughly investiagted and (eventually) labelled "unknown" by the USAF. I will point out the object was sighted near a SAC base, almost certainly meaning there were nukes on the base. I'm sure most of us know of the history of UFOs and their apparent interest in nuclear weapons. Also worth noting is none of three primary witnesses ever tried to make a buck from their experience, and reporting the incident probably caused at least the two officers some degree of grief in their careers.
 
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#2 Most Credible UFO Sighting
April 24, 1964, near Socorro, NM

Known as both the Zamora Incident and the Socorro Incident, this extraordinary sighting occurred in clear weather during late afternoon, daylight hours. Principal witness (but there were others) Lonnie Zamora, a Socorro police officer, was in pursuit of a speeder when he noticed what he thought was an explosion in the distance. Abandoning the chase, Officer Zamora proceeded to the area of the blast and was shocked to find a white-aluminum oval shaped craft resting on four legs in the desert sand. He also sighted two smallish people in white coveralls outside the craft, as if they were working on it. When they noticed Zamora, they reentered the craft and immediately blasted off with a roar and noticeable blue-orange flame. The object rose straight up, and was quickly out of sight traveling at a relatively low altitude. Upon checking the landing site of the craft after the fact, physical evidence (four imprints in the sand, fused sand, burnt foliage etc) was found in support of the claimed sighting.

The USAF investigation off this sighting resulted in it being classified as "unknown", but several possible explanations have been offered over the years. Many believed the craft Zamora saw was a test prototype of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) used later during Apollo missions to the moon, but no such prototype existed in 1964. Many years after the fact, a claim was made Zamora was the victim of a practical joke played by engineering students from nearby New Mexico Tech. While engineering students (me included) have been responsible for elaborate jokes on/near campuses over the years, this incident was beyond the capability of college students in 1964. Another claim was that Zamora and some civic leaders in Socorro cooked up the whole story to create a tourist destination, much like Roswell was to do some twenty five years later. If this was the plan, it clearly failed. The landing site was not developed, and there is no local tourist industry relative to the incident.
 
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almost certainly meaning there were nukes on the base.
That part fascinates me about the activity. And I've noticed over and over on credible sightings they seem to always somehow be near something military. I live near Camp Atterbury and the direction my UFO came from would have been that base. Although no nukes there to my knowledge, it's still military related.
 
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#2 Most Credible UFO Sighting
April 24, 1964, near Socorro, NM

Known as both the Zamora Incident and the Socorro Incident, this extraordinary sighting occurred in clear weather during late afternoon, daylight hours. Principal witness (but there were others) Lonnie Zamora, a Socorro police officer, was in pursuit of a speeder when he noticed what he thought was an explosion in the distance. Abandoning the chase, Officer Zamora proceeded to the area of the blast and was shocked to find a white-aluminum oval shaped craft resting on four legs in the desert sand. He also sighted two smallish people in white coveralls outside the craft, as if they were working on it. When they noticed Zamora, they reentered the craft and immediately blasted off with a roar and noticeable blue-orange flame. The object rose straight up, and was quickly out of sight traveling at a relatively low altitude. Upon checking the landing site of the craft after the fact, physical evidence (four imprints in the sand, fused sand, burnt foliage etc) was found in support of the claimed sighting.

The USAF investigation off this sighting resulted in it being classified as "unknown", but several possible explanations have been offered over the years. Many believed the craft Zamora saw was a test prototype of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) used later during Apollo missions to the moon, but no such prototype existed in 1964. Many years after the fact, a claim was made Zamora was the victim of a practical joke played by engineering students from nearby New Mexico Tech. While engineering students (me included) have been responsible for elaborate jokes on/near campuses over the years, this incident was beyond the capability of college students in 1964. Another claim was that Zamora and some civic leaders in Socorro cooked up the whole story to create a tourist destination, much like Roswell was to do some twenty five years later. If this was the plan, it clearly failed. The landing site was not developed, and there is no local tourist industry relative to the incident.
Good summation. I thought the student prank explanation was quite convincing. A truly epic prank! As ever though, I keep an open mind.
 
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That part fascinates me about the activity. And I've noticed over and over on credible sightings they seem to always somehow be near something military. I live near Camp Atterbury and the direction my UFO came from would have been that base. Although no nukes there to my knowledge, it's still military related.
Likewise. I live in one of the flattest places on Earth. There are airbases, RAF and USAF (for some reason- you can leave now folks!). So my experiences happened near all of that.
 
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Likewise. I live in one of the flattest places on Earth. There are airbases, RAF and USAF (for some reason- you can leave now folks!). So my experiences happened near all of that.

Ironically, I've lived all but four of my sixty-two years within five miles of major USAF bases (Wright-Patterson, Langley, and Carswell), and have been to dozens of other US military bases around the world, but have never seen a nuts & bolts UFO/craft. Yes I've seen the odd light in the night sky I couldn't identify, but never an unidentifiable craft. Most disappointing.