1966 Michigan

Taken during the Midwest wave of 1966.

One of the best accepted UFO photographs.

The so-called "swamp gas" explanation given by Air Force investigator J. Allen Hynek would stay with him for some time.

Prompted by the lack of an explanation, and knowing that there was something to the Michigan wave, the US air Force used the idiotic explanation for the sightings.

Hynek would later regret the explanation, and go on to become one of the most revered UFO researchers of all time.

1966 Michigan

The "Swamp Gas" case.

This is the case that convinced skeptic J. Allen Hynek, that he must now publicly admit that there is something real in the UFO reports.

At about 10:30 PM, a resident of the women's dormitory at Hillsdale College reported a strange object in the sky.

County Civil Defense director William E. Van Horn responded and confirmed that a bright, glowing object was indeed bouncing across a nearby hollow and then became airborne.

Hynek, who died in 1986, dismissed the Hillsdale sighting as "swamp gas."

Within two weeks, however, he changed not only his opinion about the sighting, but also sides in the UFO debate.