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Kecksburg UFO Crash

An object landed in the tiny town of Kecksburg, PA on December 9, 1965. It was observed as a fireball in the sky across several U.S. states and Canada. Four witnesses have provided independent, corroborated descriptions of the object and its location in the Kecksburg woods. Dozens of others - including fire fighters, newspaper reporters, and a news director at radio station WHJB who was on the scene taping interviews - describe the military presence at the crash site, the cordoning off of the area, and the retrieval of an object transported by an army truck. Many witnesses have provided signed affidavits for investigator Stan Gordon, who has been working on the case for over three decades.

articles & documents

1965 Kecksburg UFO crash: The Story

UFOs at Close Sight

On 9th December 1965 hundreds of witnesses in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania observed a UFO crash. It first appeared to be nothing more than a spectacular meteorite but 30 years on it is still a source of much controversy amongst UFO researchers.  R

30th Anniversary of UFO crash at Kecksburg

Richard Frager, 6 Dec 1995

30 years ago on Thursday, December 9, 1995, at about 4:45 p.m. EST, a bright fiery object hurtled across the sky above the Great Lakes, leaving a smoky trail in it wake, until it finally came to ground at Kecksburg, Westmoreland County, in southwestern Pennsylvania, about forty miles southeast of Pittsburgh.  R

Clinton aide slams Pentagon's UFO secrecy (CNN article, 2002)

Richard Stenger, CNN, October 22, 2002

One winter night in 1965, eyewitnesses saw a fireball streak over North America, bank, turn and appear to crash in western Pennsylvania. Then swarms of military personnel combed the area and a tarp-covered flatbed truck rumbled out of the woods. Now a former White House chief of staff and an international investigative journalist want to know what the Pentagon knows, calling on it to release classified files about that and other incidents involving unidentified flying objects, or UFOs.  R

Groups Ready Lawsuit Against Government Stonewall: SCI FI Channel and Others Pressure DOD and NASA for Records

Coalition for Freedom of Information / SCI FI Channel

As a result of continued resistance by key federal agencies to release records concerning the 1965 UFO incident in Kecksburg, PA, SCI FI Channel today announced its support for legal action against NASA and the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Air Force to make those records public. R

I Saw The Kecksburg UFO!

Brian Vike, HBCC UFO Research

It was a warm December night in 1965. I was 14 years old and my cousin John was 12 years old as we left my house to sneak a few cigarettes down the alley. We lived in the suburban community of Bridgeville; 12 miles southwest of downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  R

Kecksburg (About.com)

Loy Lawhon, About.com

At approximately 5:00 p.m. EST on December 9, 1965, witnesses in Canada, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania saw a fireball in the evening sky. Some Ohio witnesses said that it turned slightly while over that state, veering in the direction of Pennsylvania.  R

Kecksburg Crash Controversy

Kim Opatka, Latrobe Bulletin, May 6, 1989 (Latrobe, PA)

This final article in a six-part series on unidentified flying objects (UFOS) examines one of the most talked about and controversial incidents in the area, what has been termed a meteorite by some and an alien craft by others, which crashed in Kecksburg December 9, 1965.  R

Kecksburg UFO debate renewed

Ann Saul Dudurich, PittsburghLive.com, Tribune-Review, August 3, 2003

What really happened in the twilight skies over Kecksburg on Dec. 9, 1965 has been the subject of controversy for nearly 38 years. In an effort to encourage an open dialogue among first-hand witnesses and those who remain skeptical, the Sci Fi Channel sponsored a “town hall meeting” Saturday at the Kecksburg fire hall.  R

Kecksburg, December 9, 1965

Jenny Randles, 'UFO: Crash Retrievals', 1995

On December 9 1965, hundreds of witnesses in southern Canada, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania observed a UFO crash from the sky. In March 1966, scientist and UFO investigator Ivan Sanderson compiled an account from various eye witness stories.  R

People in Kecksburg want to resolve what fell from the sky in 1965 (Post-Gazette article, 2003)

Tom Gibb, Post-Gazette, March 09, 2003

Dec. 9, 1965. A day that will live in incongruity. That was the late afternoon when something -- or nothing -- shot from the heavens over this south edge of Westmoreland County and landed -- or didn't -- in a gully a mile outside of town.  R

Sci Fi Channel-backed researcher sues NASA over UFO files

The Associated Press, December 6, 2003

A researcher backed by cable television's Sci Fi Channel plans to sue NASA for records she contends the agency has of a UFO that reportedly crash landed and was recovered by government workers in southwestern Pennsylvania in 1965.  R

SCI FI Seeks Kecksburg Truth

SCI FI channel wire, October 21, 2003

Investigative journalist Leslie Kean, who is involved in a SCI FI Channel-sponsored Freedom of Information initiative to obtain classified documents relating to UFO phenomena, told SCI FI Wire that a high-level official at NASA has eliminated the possibility that it was a Russian satellite that fell over Kecksburg, Pa., on Dec. 9, 1965, the site of a possible UFO landing.  R

Sci-Fi Kecksberg Press Conference Materials

Steven Kaeser, UFO Updates Mailing List

Press coverage of the Sci-Fi Channel's National Press Club event was very limited this past Tuesday. At the event a Press Packet given out (as is usually the case), and it contained written versions of the statements made by those who spoke. I thought that some may find this information of interest and wanted to make them a part of the public record. R

The Kecksburg Files (Post-Gazette article, 1998)

David Templeton, Post-Gazette, September 09, 1998

Since the uncertain events of Dec. 9, 1965, debate has raged, friendships have soured, rumors have waxed, theories have arisen and Internet stories have proliferated over what crash-landed that day in the rural village of Kecksburg, Westmoreland County.  R

The Kecksburg UFO Crash (UFO Casebook)

B. J. Booth, UFO Casebook

What exactly soared through the late afternoon skies of Canada, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania on December 5, 1965? Eye witnesses described the unknown object as a "fireball," but it seemed to be under some type of intelligent control, as it veered somewhat in Ohio toward the Quaker State. R

The Kecksburg UFO: Stan Gordon and Leslie Kean

SCI FI.com

Transcript of SCI FI channel interview with Stan Gordon and Leslie Kean, researchers of the Kecksburg UFO incident. R

The Kecksburg, PA UFO Crash Incident

Stan Gordon

It was December 9,1965, that an event occurred about 40 miles from Pittsburgh in a rural area of western Pennsylvania, that even now remains controversial for some, and mysterious to others. At the time many people saw a brilliant object moving across the sky.  R

The Kecksburg, Pennsylvania "UFO Crash" - actually the Great Lakes Fireball of December 9, 1965 (Skeptical)

Robert Sheaffer - The Debunker's Domain

Living up to its name, the Science Fiction Channel premiered a sensationalist "documentary" on October 24, 2003, claiming that a "UFO crash" in Kecksburg was "a second Roswell." The reality is that a major fireball meteor was widely seen at that time, and studied extensively by scientists.

UFO Case Back In Spotlight - (Tribune-Review article, 2002)

Ann Saul Dudurich, TRIBUNE-REVIEW, November 6, 2002

On Dec. 9, 1965, a fiery orange object was observed streaking across the evening sky. Witnesses in Westmoreland County said the object appeared to bank and turn before gliding into a wooded ravine near Kecksburg, Mt. Pleasant Township. Nearly 37 years later, Kecksburg is once again in the national spotlight.  R

websites & organizations

Coalition for Freedom of Information - Campaign News

Coalition for Freedom of Information (CFI)

(Info on CFI lawsuit regarding Kecksburg Incident)

Kecksburg: The Untold Story

Stan Gordon

A 92 minute in depth video documentary on the December 9, 1965 Kecksburg, PA UFO crash recovery produced by Stan Gordon.

Stan Gordon's UFO Anamolies Zone

Stan Gordon

Website of Stan Gordon, the leading researcher of the Kecksburg UFO crash incident.