On September 3, 1965, a strange event unfolded in the quiet town of Kensington, near Exeter, New Hampshire. A young man named Norman Muscarello, just 18, spotted a large, silent object with five flashing red lights hovering in a field. Two Exeter police officers, Eugene Bertrand and David Hunt, saw it too.
Known as the Exeter UFO Incident, this sighting became one of the most famous UFO cases because honest, trusted people reported it. Their clear, matching stories grabbed the attention of the U.S. Air Force, news reporters, and people across the country.
Now, 60 years later, we look back at this real event that still sparks wonder. This article shares every detail from witness reports, official records, and recent celebrations to give you the full story of what happened that night.
UFO Sightings in the 1960s and New Hampshire
The 1960s were a time when UFO sightings filled the news. The United States and the Soviet Union were racing to explore space, and the Cold War made people curious about what might be out there. The Air Force ran Project Blue Book, a program that studied over 12,000 UFO reports from 1952 to 1969.
Many Americans read about spaceships in books, watched them in movies, and wondered if aliens were visiting. Groups like the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, or NICAP, pushed the government to take these reports seriously.
In New Hampshire, strange sightings were not new. Four years earlier, in 1961, Betty and Barney Hill, a couple from Portsmouth, said they were taken by beings from another world while driving in the White Mountains. Their story, one of the first widely known abduction cases, made New Hampshire a hot spot for UFO talk. The Exeter incident fit right into this wave of real, unexplained events that had people looking to the skies.
What Happened That Night: A Full Timeline
The Exeter UFO Incident began with reports before the main sighting. Around 12:30 a.m. on September 3, 1965, a woman driving on Route 101 called the Exeter police. She said a large object with red lights followed her car, scaring her badly. Officer Eugene Bertrand drove out to check but found nothing at the time. Later, around 3 a.m., a man at a tollbooth in nearby Hampton called the police. He said he saw a strange object with red lights but hung up before giving his name.
Then came the main event. Norman Muscarello, an 18-year-old who had just graduated high school, was hitchhiking home to Exeter from Amesbury, Massachusetts, after visiting his girlfriend. Around 2 a.m., he was walking along Route 150 in Kensington, about five miles from Exeter.
Few cars were out, and he was alone when he noticed something odd. In a field near a farmhouse owned by the Dining family, he saw five bright red lights flashing in a pattern: one, two, three, four, five, then back down. The lights were on a huge object, about 80 to 90 feet long, the size of a house. It hovered silently, about 100 feet off the ground and 100 feet away from him.
“It was rocking back and forth, like a leaf falling, but it stayed in one spot,” Muscarello later told writer John G. Fuller. “There was no sound at all, just those lights flashing, and it scared me to death.” The object lit up nearby trees and the barn. Horses in a nearby corral kicked and whinnied, and dogs barked loudly.
Crickets, usually noisy at night, went quiet. Frightened, Muscarello dropped to the ground in a ditch to hide. He got up and ran to the Russell family’s farmhouse, banging on the door, but no one answered. He then stood in the road and waved down a passing car. The driver, a middle-aged couple, took him to the Exeter police station.
At the station, Muscarello told Officer Reginald “Scratch” Toland what he saw. “He was pale, shaking, and could hardly talk,” Toland later said. Officer Bertrand, who had heard the woman’s report earlier, decided to go back with Muscarello to the field. They arrived around 2:30 a.m. At first, nothing was there. Then, from behind two pine trees, the same object rose up. Its red lights flashed in the same pattern, and it hovered over the field. Bertrand later said, “It was big, dark, and had no sound. Those lights were brighter than anything I’d ever seen.”
Officer David Hunt pulled up in another patrol car and saw it too. “The thing was just floating there, rocking side to side,” Hunt told reporters. “It wasn’t a plane or helicopter. I’ve seen those, and this was different.” Bertrand thought about shooting at it but decided not to, worried about what might happen. The object stayed for a few minutes, then slowly rose higher and moved away over the trees until it was gone.
Right after, a B-47 bomber from Pease Air Force Base flew overhead. Hunt said, “I heard the plane’s engines clear as day. The object we saw had no noise at all. There’s no comparison.”
In the weeks after, about 60 other people in the Exeter area reported similar sightings. A teenager named Ron Smith saw a glowing object with red lights near his home. The Lindsay family reported a low-flying craft that made no sound. These extra reports showed that something real was happening around Exeter that fall.
The Witnesses: Who They Were
Norman Muscarello was a young man with no reason to make up stories. He was about to join the U.S. Navy and later served in Vietnam. In a 1980 interview, he stuck to every detail. “I know what I saw, and it wasn’t from this world,” he said. He faced a lot of attention after the sighting and moved away for a while but always stood by his story. He died in 2003 at age 55.
Eugene Bertrand Jr. was a respected Exeter police officer. He had been skeptical when he checked the woman’s report earlier that night. Seeing the object changed his mind. “I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself,” he told Fuller. He died in 1998, never changing his account.
David Hunt, the other officer, was also a trusted member of the police. He backed up Bertrand and Muscarello. “It was real, and it was there,” he said in an interview. He passed away in 2011. The woman on Route 101 and the tollbooth caller added to the story, though their names were not recorded. All these people felt real fear. Muscarello’s shaking and Bertrand’s urge to draw his gun showed how much the sight affected them.
Investigations: Looking for Answers
The Exeter police chief called Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth right away. Major David Griffin and Lieutenant Alan Brandt came to town and talked to Muscarello, Bertrand, and Hunt. They asked the officers to keep quiet, but a reporter from the Manchester Union-Leader had already interviewed them. The Air Force sent a report to Project Blue Book, their UFO study group. In January 1966, Lieutenant Colonel John Spaulding wrote, “We have been unable to identify the object seen on September 3, 1965.” The original police report was lost over time, but the witness stories stayed clear.
Civilians also looked into the event. Raymond Fowler, from the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, went to Exeter and talked to witnesses. He said the Air Force’s early ideas did not hold up. John G. Fuller, a writer, spent weeks in town, interviewing everyone involved.
His 1966 book, Incident at Exeter, shared the story with the world. It became a bestseller and was featured in magazines like Look and Reader’s Digest. Fuller quoted Muscarello saying, “It was the most frightening thing I ever saw in my life.” The book’s details and honest reporting made the incident famous.
What Could It Have Been?
The Air Force first thought it might be a weather effect called a temperature inversion, which can make lights look strange. They also said five B-47 planes were flying nearby for a test called Operation Big Blast. But the witnesses said the object was silent, and the B-47 they heard later was loud and different.
In 2011, two researchers suggested it was a KC-97 tanker plane from Pease Air Force Base. They said its refueling lights flashed like the ones described. But Hunt said, “No plane I’ve ever seen moved like that or was that quiet.” The object’s size, silence, and animal reactions did not match a plane.
Other ideas included mistaking stars for a craft or lights from power lines sparking. One person even suggested a kite with lights as a prank. But these do not explain how close the object was, its huge size, or how it scared horses and dogs. J. Allen Hynek, a famous UFO researcher, called it a “Close Encounter of the First Kind,” meaning people saw an unknown craft up close.
Today, the government talks about unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs, and cases like Exeter show why these mysteries matter. The facts point to something real that we still cannot explain.
Legacy: How Exeter Remembers
The Exeter UFO Incident left a big mark.
Fuller’s book spread the story, and he later wrote about the Hill case in The Interrupted Journey. Since 2010, the Exeter Area Kiwanis Club has held the Exeter UFO Festival every Labor Day weekend. It honors the 1965 sighting and raises money for children’s charities.
The 2025 festival, marking 60 years, happened on August 30 and 31. It had trolley rides to the sighting spot, food trucks, live music, and kids’ games. Speakers included Valerie Lofaso, who talked about life in 1965, Charles Foltz, who shared about other abduction cases, and Stephen Bassett, who discussed sharing UFO information with the public.
The town has embraced its history. In 2025, the Exeter Police Department sold a special patch for the 60th anniversary. It cost $10, and the money helped community programs. The incident inspired TV shows, books, and UFO groups.
The witnesses faced a lot of attention, which was hard for Muscarello. He said in 1980, “I just want people to believe what I saw.” Today, Exeter sees the event as a proud part of its story, with signs and exhibits celebrating it. In 2026, the Portsmouth Historical Society plans a display on the Hill case, showing how New Hampshire’s UFO history lives on.
Final Thoughts On This UFO Encounter
The Exeter UFO Incident of September 3, 1965, was a real event that shook a small town. Norman Muscarello, Eugene Bertrand, and David Hunt saw something they could not explain: a huge, silent object with flashing red lights. Their honest words, backed by other reports, make this case stand out. Even after 60 years, we do not have all the answers. The facts ask us to keep an open mind. Visit the Exeter UFO Festival, read Incident at Exeter, or check Project Blue Book records to learn more. This true story reminds us that some mysteries in the sky are still waiting to be solved.
