The 'Swamp Gas' Sightings in Michigan
In 1966, hundreds of people in Michigan reported glowing objects over a swamp. When a scientist suggested 'swamp gas', the nation laughed, and Congress got involved.
What was reported
On 20 March 1966, a farmer and his family near Dexter, Michigan, said they saw a football-shaped object with lights hovering over a swamp. Police officers and others reported lights too. The next night, dozens of students at Hillsdale College, some kilometres away, said they watched a glowing object over a swamp near their dormitory for hours.
The Air Force sent the astronomer J. Allen Hynek, who suggested at a press conference that some of the lights might have been glowing gas from the swamp. The explanation was ridiculed across the country.
Explanations offered
Hynek later said he had only offered swamp gas as a possibility for some of the lights. The uproar led Gerald Ford, then a Michigan congressman, to call for a hearing, which led to the Condon Committee's study of UFOs. What the witnesses saw has never been settled.
- When
- 20–21 March 1966
- Where
- Dexter, Michigan, USA
- Witnesses
- Police, a farmer's family and dozens of students
- Status
- Explanation mocked
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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