Declassified Pentagon Files Revisit the 1947 West Rindge Flaming Metal Fragments Incident

To the point

Declassified Pentagon files describe a 1947 West Rindge incident where witnesses including Charles N. Tasker and Mr. Appel saw smoke and flaming fragments that MIT researchers led by John W. Bunker identified as ordinary iron heated to high temperatures, prompting competing explanations—from a railroad component to debris from the sky—with J. Francis Reintjes noting a resemblance to V-2 missile linings, while uncertainty about a rocket origin or extraterrestrial causes persisted and the FBI planned to destroy the specimens.