1947 West Rindge Flaming Iron Fragments: MIT Analysis, FBI Inquiry, and UFO-Era Uncertainty

To the point

Flaming iron fragments found near Route 202 in West Rindge, New Hampshire, in 1947 were analyzed by MIT researchers led by Dr. John W. Bunker and determined to be cast iron heated to form scales, with possible man-made sources such as a steam engine liner, railroad equipment, a jet engine lining, or a larger object whose fragments had fallen and cooled, but no definitive origin was established, some experts doubted a space debris or meteorite explanation while others entertained extraterrestrial possibilities, reflecting the era’s UFO fever, J. Francis Reintjes noting similarities to components used in V-2 missile work, the final memo urging destroying the specimens unless told otherwise, and the FBI’s records could not be located when NHPR inquired, making the West Rindge incident a feature of New Hampshire UFO lore alongside Exeter’s festival and the Betty and Barney Hill case.