The Kecksburg Incident

Our spooky tales continue with The Kecksburg Incident. Did a UFO crash land in the woods of Western PA? Was it a Russian satellite? Was it a US spy satellite? Could we have finally found the famed Nazi Bell? Let’s investigate!

December 9, 1965

The day was mild with temperatures in the upper thirties or low forties. Children were out playing football. At 4:47 pm witnesses observed a fireball streaking through the sky. The flames were mostly green in color with wisps of yellow, purple and orange. People saw this unique phenomena over Canada, Ohio and Western PA.

The fireball landed in a patch of woods in rural Kecksburg, PA. The fire department was called in to help the downed craft. Several people arrived on the scene to find a copper colored acorn shaped craft around 10 to 12 feet long. It was partially buried from the impact. The witnesses recall seeing a band near what appeared to be the bottom of the craft. The band had some unique writing. The writing appeared similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Within an hour, more than two dozen U.S. military personnel arrived. They forced locals away from the area. The military cited concerns of nuclear radiation. For those who persisted they were escorted by gunpoint away from the site.

The military set up a command center in a home closest to the crash site. This home had a phone they used to coordinate their maneuvers. Military personnel wearing radiation suits were seen going in to the crash site. They loaded up the object onto a flatbed truck and hauled it away. They were out of town by 8:00 P.M..

The town was told that it was a metorite that landed and that there was nothing left. Witnesses who had seen an object being hauled away were mistaken and should not discuss it any more.

The Mystery

So was it just a meteorite as the military claimed? Trustworthy locals including well seasoned fire fighters, police and reporters insist they saw a large object at the crash site. Many witnesses in several states and Canada report watching the fireball turn and maneuver as though it were being flown or controlled.

It is hard to believe that so many people could see an object change its flight path like a craft if it were simply a meteorite. The town of Kecksburg had nothing to gain from claiming they saw something they didn’t. The military claimed they hadn’t been tracking the craft, yet Canada had it on their radar. The home they commandeered checked their next phone bill. They found no strange phone numbers. It was as if they military hadn’t used their phone at all.

So why would the U.S. military lie and conduct a cover-up? There are multiple reasons and a meteorite isn’t one of them.

Kecksburg Incident Theories

Extraterrestrial

What landed in the woods was a U.F.O. It was an unidentified flying object. It was seen navigating its way through the sky before crashing. This does not mean it has anything to do with aliens from outer space. Though it would explain a cover-up.

Extraterrestrials would explain a big government cover-up. It would also explain the “Men in Black” type figures that had been seen in town during the government clean up. There was a theory that the object had been taken to an Air Force base in Ohio, where a witness reported seeing an odd shaped hand with reptilian like skin in the wreck.

Don’t get me wrong, it could have been aliens, but it is unlikely. It is more likely to have been a government project.

Russian Satellite Cosmos 96

During 1965 America was in the midst of the Cold War. If an object, especially a Russian object crash landed the government would want it collected and inspected as quickly as possible.

The Cosmos 96 was a Russian built satellite that was designed to explore the planet Venus. Unfortunately, the craft did not escape low Earth orbit and eventually reentered the atmosphere. It’s reentry occurred during December 9th of 1965.

In a 2003 special for the Sci-Fi Channel, journalist Leslie Kean discussed Kecksburg with Nicholas L. Johnson. Johnson was NASA’s chief scientist for orbital debris. He rechecked the data from 1965 and stated that it would have been impossible for any part of the Cosmos 96 to have been the Kecksburg debris. He felt it had landed in Canada earlier that day. Sadly, the Sci-Fi Channel is not the best source of facts.

However, in 2005 around the 40th anniversary of the Kecksburg Incident, NASA spokesmen came out and made an announcement. They stated that the wreckage was in fact a Russian satellite and that all reports and debris had been lost.

So, first the Air Force says it is a meteorite and that there was no debris. Then NASA states it absolutely could not have been a man-made satellite as there were no satellites that entered orbit that day. After that, NASA states it was a Russian satellite. Well, that is all very confusing.

Die Glocke (The Bell)

During World War II, Hitler was willing to try anything to ensure his victory. He placed Heinrich Himmler in charge of a think tank to come up with academic backing to the Nazi’s racial ideology. Himmler utilized this appointment to search for all manner of religious artifacts. From the Holy Grail to Thor’s Hammer, Himmler searched for anything to justify their racial ideology and create weapons.

While Himmler was searching for religious artifacts, others were conducting medical experiments. Anything that Josef Mengela could discover that would create a superior race was worth the means he used to discover it.

There were also groups working on creating Wunderwaffe, or Wonder Weapons. The Bell was considered such a thing. There is not much concrete proof that Die Glocke was ever a real thing, let alone constructed. The Polish writer Igor Witkowski claims to have read the transcripts of the interrogation of SS and Police Leader Jakob Sporrenberg. Witkowski claims that in the interrogation transcripts, Sporrenberg discusses the construction of Die Glocke. This weapon was large and shaped roughly like a bell. When turned on it vibrated and made buzzing noise. It was reminiscent of a beehive. Scientists nicknamed it the Beehive because of this.

The Bell was supposedly an antigravity device capable of space travel. After the war, The Bell was rumored to have gone to South America with the escaping Nazis. Based upon descriptions it sounded remarkably similar to the Kecksburg acorn craft.

Country Fox has a very hard time getting behind the Nazi Bell theory. As far as anyone knows, there is literally no proof of its creation or existance. Until Sporrenber’s transcripts are released to the public unredacted, we may never know.

General Electric Mark 2 Re-entry Vehicle

Two Westmoreland County researchers have recently formulated a theory that lists the General Electric Mark 2 Re-entry Vehicle as the Kecksburg UFO. Their theory suggests that the vehicle was launched two days earlier from Johnston Island in the Pacific. This was part of the top secret spy program aimed to spy on Russia.

The GE Mark 2 vehicle had four control jets, which could account for what witnesses said was a controlled flight. One of the metals used in its construction was copper. Copper would explain why many witnesses saw green flames.

Kecksburg Today

We may never know if it was an extraterrestrial craft, a Russian satellite, a secret Nazi weapon or an American Spy craft. After the Air Force left Kecksburg, the crash was mostly forgotten. Some held on to their memories of that day.

During the 1990’s the popular show, Unsolved Mysteries, came to Kecksburg to get interviews and film. They created a life-sized model based upon eye witness testimony. When they were finished filming, they left the replica in town. There it sat for another 15 years.

Eventually a few townsfolk decided to put the “Space Acorn” on a pole and open a small store to sell memorabilia, books and DVD’s. They added the UFO to their yearly Old Fashioned Days festival. They now have an entire weekend of celebrations which concludes with a large gathering of interested people and experts discussing the crash, Big Foot and other paranormal subjects.

Did you miss my first two Spooky posts? Read the Lady in White here. Discover the Lost Children of the Alleghenies here.