Kecksburg, PA - Herbie the UFO

Mysterious lights spotted in the sky are common, a quick glimpse of an alien-like creature in the woods on a dark night has been reported by several but a full-blow UFO landing in your backyard is the mother-load. (HT Discusses in Show #323 & #324)

On a cold winter night in 1965 thousands in the midwest saw a streaking fiery illumination dance in the sky but several just outside of Pittsburgh saw it land in the woods. The shape of an acorn but the size of a Volkswagen Beetle with hieroglyphic writings was what a volunteer fireman found in the woods. Some claimed the US Military quickly carted the alien Herbie away and claimed nothing was found.

The Air Force confirmed that there was a large meteor that flew through the atmosphere that evening that most likely was seen all throughout the Northern Mid-West but the folks in Kecksberg believe they got the landing. Conspiracy theories have run amuck, partly due to a documentaries later appearing on the SciFi Channel and more. But here's some observations that make this the ever-growing tale;

The fireman who saw the crashed UFO. - he's always just known as a "Volunteer fireman". Who is he? Does he have a name? is there any confirmed record of this fireman and his sighting or just hearsay?

Reporter John Murphy- He was a radio reporter at the local station and was on the scene quickly in 1965 interviewing those who had seen the crash. As reported in one of the documentaries, Murphy was told by authorities to keep quiet as were other witnesses. He never spoke much about the incident again and many many years later died of a hit-and-run accident in California (sounds suspicious doesn't it? or maybe totally coincidence and just makes our conspiracy-craving brains go wild). His former wife claimed he had much more information than what was reported in his radio reports.

NASA - After some court orders, They claimed it was a "Russian Satellite" which of course was a different story that what the State Police and Military claiming nothing was found. Although it makes good sense. During the height of the Cold War in 1965, would the military really want to be forth-coming about Russian Satellites hitting our nation?

The SciFi Documentary - It's a really entertaining production but it's hard to discount that SciFi has a bit of a vested interest in keeping this tale full of conspiracy and alien references.

At the end of the day, none of the above matters. What's really important to Hometown Tales is that Kecksberg has a giant acorn-like statue outside their firehouse created as a replica from an Unsolved Mysteries show highlighting the tale. Kecksberg displays it with pride and celebrates what has shaped their town.