Swamp Gas to Close Encounters

One of the best documented UFO cases of all time is the 1966 series of sightings which occurred in the state of Michigan. March 20 is the 40 year anniversary of this case. Washtenaw County residents Frank Mannor and his son reported to the Sheriff's Department that they had seen a flying saucer land in a nearby swamp. Following the object into the bog, they saw the brightly lit object raise up and move directly over their heads. Soon it disappeared into the night sky. Shortly thereafter, Patrolman Robert Hunawill of the Dexter Village Police saw the same object, or another just like it, hover over his patrol car. Soon it was joined by three other UFOs. There were several photographs taken of the object before the sightings ended; one a classic photo of the UFO sitting on the road. (See photo above)

UFO mystery still haunts some revisits this famous case, which would become known as the "swamp gas" case. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, one of the most famous UFO investigators of our time, arrived on the scene of the sightings, representing the United States Air Force's Project Blue Book. Hynek first told interested parties that there was something to the sightings, but after making a lengthy phone call to his superiors, he had a different answer to what the objects really were. Washtenaw County sheriff Douglas Harvey states he asked Hynek directly: "What do you think?" Hynek said, "It's swamp gas." This tag became a derisive term still used today to quickly debunk any UFO sighting, and gave Hynek an infamous reputation that he labored to erase. He eventually became one of the most revered figures in Ufology, and famous for coining another catchy phrase, "close encounters of the third kind."