1966 Dexter Swamp Light: Hynek, Ford, and the Congressional Hearing
Sixty years ago, in Dexter, Michigan (1966), farmer Frank Mannor and his family reported a strange light that landed in a swamp, leaving a ground circle; police, Hillsdale College students, and about 40 other witnesses observed lights in the area. The case drew national attention, with Washtenaw County Sheriff Douglas Harvey and Congressman Weston Vivan involving the Air Force’s Project Blue Book physicist, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, and even a CBS report by Walter Cronkite. Hynek and the Air Force offered an explanation— swamp gas released by spring thawing vegetation could illuminate, produce sound, and sometimes form a glowing ball—though photos were dismissed as camera exposure effects or misinterpretations of the moon and Venus. The explanation angered residents and led Congressman Gerald R. Ford to call for a congressional hearing, labeling Hynek’s interpretation as flippant. The episode remains a notable Michigan UFO sighting, with later documentation by the Ford Library Museum and a mini-documentary by Lara Zielin featuring interviews with involved residents and authorities. Beyond this case, Michigan saw more than three dozen UFO reports in 2023, many with photographic evidence, underscoring ongoing public interest in unidentified sightings.
Source: wgrd.com
