The Exeter UFO Incident

The Exeter UFO Incident specifically refers to a UFO sighting that occurred on September 3, 1965 and involves an unknown woman, a teenager, and two Exeter, New Hampshire, police officers. The Exeter UFO Incident was merely one incident in a local flap of UFO sightings.

Early in the morning on September 3, 1965, eighteen year-old Norman Muscarello was walking along highway 150, attempting to hitchhike a ride home. As Muscarello walked he noticed strange red lights in the woods off of the highway. The lights began to move toward Muscarello. In a panic Muscarello jumped into a ditch in an attempt to hide himself. The strange lights then began to move toward a nearby farm house. After some time the lights moved off into the woods again. When the lights moved back into the woods Muscarello ran up to the farm house and began banging on the front door and screaming for help. Unfortunately the owners were not home. Muscarello then saw that a car was coming and ran out into the street and flagged down a couple who then dropped him off at the Exeter police station.

At the station, and as Muscarello recounted his tale, Officer Bertrand advised of his experience earlier in the evening with a woman who he had dismissed as a nut. Officer Bertrand claimed he came upon a parked car and thought that the driver may be in distress. Inside was a woman who seemed frantic and extremely frightened. The woman claimed that a UFO had followed her car and had even hovered over the car at times. Officer Bertrand now began to believe that perhaps something strange was indeed going on.

Officer Bertrand decided to take Norman Muscarello back to the location where Muscarello claimed he saw the strange red lights. After arriving at the scene the pair discovered nearby animals acting very unusual. As Officer Bertrand scouted the area he claimed a large, barn-sized craft with flashing red lights rose up from behind a corral. Officer Bertrand became so frightened that he almost shot at the UFO but then quickly regained his senses and grabbed Muscarello while yelling at him to get into the car. Officer Bertrand then radioed for back-up. Officer Hunt responded and also claimed to have seen the UFO. Shortly thereafter the UFO disappeared at a high rate of speed.

The Air Force and Project Blue Book issued a number of so-called explanations for the events, from claiming the men saw nothing more than stars and/or a temperature inversion, to planes during an military exercise. The Exeter UFO Incident is one of the rare cases where public pressure caused the Air Force to retract it's explanation. To this day the case is officially classified as an "unknown".

The city of Exeter now embraces the UFO sighting that brought it fame and hosts the Exeter UFO Festival to commemorate the event.

In a 1997 interview for Susan Michaels' book, Sightings: UFOs, Norman Muscarello stated that the events on that September night back in 1965 were the most frightening experiences he has ever had, even more frightening than his experiences in Vietnam. Muscarello claimed to still suffer nightmares over the incident. Norman Muscarello passed away in 2003.

For a picture of Norman Muscarello, Officer Bertrand & Officer Hunt, click HERE. To read the eyewitness statements, click HERE.

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1965, The Exeter, New Hampshire Encounters

The Incident at Exeter

J. Allen Hynek: The Incident at Exeter

Exeter UFO Festival

Incident At Exeter: Unidentified Flying Objects Over America Now by John G. Fuller

N.H. Teen's 1965 Sighting Became Blueprint for UFOs