Quick Info
September 3, 1965, Exeter, New Hampshire. 18-year-old Norman Muscarello was chased down a dark country road by a massive, silent object with brilliant red lights. Police officers, firefighters, and dozens of witnesses saw the same thing hovering silently just above the ground. Project Blue Book investigated; the case became one of the strongest close encounters of the first kind on record.
No conventional explanation has ever fully accounted for the events of that night.
Timeline of Events – September 3, 1965
The night unfolded over several hours with escalating sightings and responses. Times are approximate based on police logs, witness statements, and Project Blue Book reports.
- 2:30 a.m. Norman Muscarello is hitchhiking home along Route 150 near Kensington after visiting friends in Amesbury, Massachusetts. The road is dark and rural.
- 2:45–3:00 a.m. Norman sees a massive object rise silently from behind a house on the horizon. It is shaped like a football or elongated oval, about 80 to 90 feet wide, with five brilliant red lights in an arc on the underside. The lights pulse slowly and illuminate the ground, trees, and nearby homes. No sound. The object moves slowly toward him, hovering just above the treetops.
- 3:00 a.m. Norman freezes, then runs in terror toward the nearest house (home of the Russell family). He pounds on the door, screaming for help. No one answers. He continues running down the road.
- 3:05 a.m. Norman flags down a passing car driven by a couple. He begs them to take him to the police station, claiming a flying saucer chased him. They drive him to Exeter Police Station.
- 3:15 a.m. At Exeter Police Station, Norman is shaking, pale, and nearly incoherent. He tells Officer Reginald "Scratch" Toland about the object. Toland, skeptical but concerned, drives Norman back to the spot on Route 150 near the Russell house.
- 3:20–3:30 a.m. Toland and Norman park. The object reappears, hovering low over the field, close enough to light up the area like daylight. Toland radios for backup. Officer David Hunt arrives. Both officers watch the object hover silently for several minutes. It moves slowly, tilts, changes direction, then rises and disappears over the trees.
- 3:30–4:00 a.m. More officers and firefighters arrive. Dozens of independent witnesses (farmers, drivers, residents) report seeing the same thing: a large, silent object with red lights hovering low over fields and roads around Exeter and Kensington.
- 4:00–5:00 a.m. Police conduct a 5-hour search of the area. No trace of the object is found, but witnesses continue to report sightings. The lights are described as bright enough to read a newspaper by.
- 5:00 a.m. onward The object is no longer visible. Police take statements. Norman is shaken but unharmed. The case quickly attracts media attention.
Sure doesn't sound like they were chasing Venus or swamp gas, right?
September 3, 1965 – The Night Begins Quietly
Norman Muscarello was 18 years old, living in Exeter with his mother. It was a warm Friday evening. He had been hitchhiking home from Amesbury, Massachusetts, after visiting friends. Around 3:00 a.m., he was walking alone along Route 150 near Kensington, a rural stretch with few houses and thick woods. The moon was bright, the sky clear. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Then he saw it.
A massive object, later described as 80 to 90 feet wide, rose silently from behind a house on the horizon. It was shaped like a football or elongated oval, with five intense red lights arranged in an arc along its underside. The lights pulsed slowly, bright enough to illuminate the ground, trees, and nearby homes. There was no sound, no engine roar, no hum, no wind. It moved slowly toward him, hovering just above the treetops.
"It was as big as a house. The lights were so bright I could see the whole field lit up. It was coming right at me. I thought it was going to crush me."
– Norman Muscarello (police report & interviews, 1965)
"I was walking along the road when this thing came up over the trees. It was huge, and those red lights were blinding. I ran like hell to the nearest house and banged on the door. Nobody answered. I kept running until I flagged down a car."
– Norman Muscarello (additional interview detail)
Norman froze for a moment, then ran in terror toward the nearest house. He pounded on the door, screaming for help. No one answered. He ran farther down the road, flagged down a passing car driven by a couple, and begged them to take him to the police. They did.
3:00 to 3:30 a.m. – The Police Witness It
At Exeter Police Station, Norman was shaking, pale, and nearly incoherent. He told Officer Reginald "Scratch" Toland that a flying saucer had chased him. Toland was skeptical but drove Norman back to the spot on Route 150. They parked near the house where Norman first saw it. Nothing. Then it appeared again, the same massive object with five red lights, hovering low over the field, close enough to light up the trees and ground.
Toland radioed for backup. Officer David Hunt arrived. Both officers watched the object hover silently for several minutes. It moved slowly, tilted, changed direction, then rose and disappeared over the trees.
"It was no plane, no helicopter. It was huge, silent, and the lights were so bright they lit up the whole area. We watched it for minutes. It just left."
– Officer David Hunt (official report, 1965)
"The object was low enough to light up the field like daylight. It made no noise at all. We stood there with our mouths open. It was something I'll never forget."
– Officer Reginald "Scratch" Toland (1965 statement)
More officers and firefighters arrived. Dozens of independent witnesses, farmers, drivers, residents, reported seeing the same thing that night: a large, silent object with red lights hovering low over fields and roads around Exeter and Kensington.
"I looked out my window at 3 a.m. and saw this thing in the sky. It was huge, shaped like a football, with red lights all along the bottom. It just hung there, no sound. My dogs were barking like crazy. Then it moved off slowly."
– Local resident near Kensington (anonymous report, 1965)
"I was driving home when I saw the lights over the trees. It was low, maybe 100 feet up, and the red glow lit up my dashboard. No engine noise, no wind. It scared me so bad I pulled over and watched until it left."
– Motorist on Route 150 (1965 testimony)
"I saw the object from my porch. It was low, silent, and the red lights were pulsing. It lit up the whole yard. I called the police. They saw it too."
– Firefighter on scene (1965 statement)
The Craft – What Witnesses Described
Every witness agreed on key details:
- Size: 80 to 90 feet wide (some said as big as a house or football field)
- Shape: elongated oval, football-like, or slightly flattened disc
- Lights: five brilliant red lights in an arc or circle on the underside, pulsing slowly
- Movement: silent, hovering, slow drifting, sudden direction changes
- Altitude: very low, 50 to 100 feet above ground, close enough to light up trees and houses
- No sound: no engine, no propellers, no wind or exhaust
"It was so close I could have hit it with a rock. The lights were blinding. It just hung there, silent. Then it moved away like it was floating."
– Local resident (anonymous report, 1965)
"The lights were red and pulsed like heartbeats. The thing was huge, low enough to make the trees sway a little, but there was no wind. No noise at all. I watched it for five minutes before it shot up and vanished."
– Firefighter on scene (1965 statement)
Project Blue Book Investigation
The U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book sent investigators to Exeter. They interviewed Norman, the police officers, firefighters, and multiple independent witnesses. Their official conclusion: Unidentified.
"This was a legitimate UFO sighting. The witnesses were credible, the object was seen by multiple trained observers, and no explanation fits."
– Major Hector Quintanilla (Blue Book files, 1965)
The case was never explained as a plane, helicopter, balloon, or atmospheric phenomenon. Major Hector Quintanilla (Blue Book head) later called it one of the strongest cases in their files.
Key Videos and Interviews of the 1965 Exeter Event
More interviews, documentaries, and witness accounts on YouTube
Media Storm & John G. Fuller
Journalist John G. Fuller (Look magazine) covered the case extensively. His articles and later book *The Interrupted Journey* (which also covered Betty and Barney Hill) brought national attention. Witnesses stood by their stories under scrutiny. No one recanted. The incident became known as one of the most credible pre-1970s close encounters.
Legacy in 2026
Over 60 years later, Exeter 1965 remains a benchmark case: multiple trained observers (police, firefighters), independent witnesses, low-altitude daylight-like illumination, silent maneuverability, and no conventional explanation. It influenced countless later investigations and is still cited as a classic close encounter of the first kind. The red lights over the New Hampshire fields that night continue to haunt everyone who saw them.
