On September 5, 2015 I attended the annual UFO Festival held in Exeter, NH. This year marked the 50th year since Norman Muscarello reported to Exeter Police that he saw a UFO behind a barn in Exeter. The event is sponsored by the Kiwanis club which raises funds for children. There were T-Shirts, music, posters, books and guest speakers.
My primary goal in attending the festival was finding the spot where Norman had seen the UFO 50 years ago. Armed with a handy UFO Safari Map I ventured out.
Dean Merchant being interviewed by a Union-Leader Reporter. Dean was described as Mr. UFO in an article in the September edition of New Hampshire Magazine. Dean and his wife created the Exeter UFO festival in 2009.Charles Creteau and Dean Merchant stand in front of the field where Norman saw the UFO in 1965. It was a delight to meet Dean I had a number of questions about this event since it was supposedly debunked by the Skeptical Inquirer in 2011. However I remain a believer since I can’t believe a U.S. Air Force KC-97 would be buzzing this field at 300 feet and produce NO NOISE.In the 1965 police report of the incident, it was noted that this farmhouse was brightly lit in an orange light. Norman knocked frantically on the door but the inhabitants didn’t answer, probably because it was almost 3 AM and they assumed he was drunkArtist’s depiction of the 1965 Incident taken from the police reports. The craft was so close that Patrolman Bertrand raised his service revolver. Dean commissioned local artist Roseann Meserve to paint this.UFO clipping from 1965The exact location of the sighting can be verified because Patrolman Bertrand included Telephone pole number #668. This is the replacement pole. Find this on Google Maps Street ViewCharles Creteau models the T-Shirt from his organization Seacoast Saucers of New HampshireIt wouldn’t be a Festival without a T-Shirt. I just had to get this one, all for charity.Something for everyone at the festivalUsing my UFO Safari Map I traveled along some of the back roads that were considered “hot spots” and were marked with red stars. I noted how quiet it was. The entire area has a reputation as a UFO portal and one could see how that might happen. Traveling back home I discovered that my GPS was completely useless until I was out of Exeter. This photo was taken on the Better Hill Hybrid Loop on Stumpfield Road (I added the effect).
If I had an encounter I would want it too look like this when they arrived.
“At 2:24 A.M. on September 3, 1965, Norman Muscarello, three weeks from joining the Navy, plunged into the Exeter police station in a state of near shock. He was white and shaking. Patrolman Reginald “Scratch” Toland, on duty at the desk helped him light a cigarette before he calmed down enough to talk”
Norman told of an object which he called “The Thing” which came out of sky and chased him. When the police went to investigate the site they witnessed what appeared to be a UFO over the field. There were over 60 sightings of UFOs over the coming weeks and the Exeter sightings are considered “one of the best-documented UFO accounts on record” (APRO Bulletin 1965) and “one of the most spectacular and best-corroborated UFO close encounters of all time” (Davenport and Geremia 2001). In October of 2002 The National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) published a briefing document about the Exeter UFO Sightings.
The Skeptical Inquirer published an article in their November/December edition that they had solved the case of the ‘Exeter Incident’. They claim that the sighting was actually a U.S. Air Force KC-97 refueling tanker but I want to believe.
Exeter will be holding a 50th Anniversary UFO Festival from Friday, Sept. 4th – Sunday Sept. 6th, 2015. I plan to attend on Saturday.
Poltrack Pix 