'UFO Witness': What was the alleged connection between the Nazis and the 1965 Kecksburg incident?
The Kecksburg UFO incident is one of those mysteries that has gained immense notoriety in popular culture. So much so that it served as plot points and inspirations for movies. Now, the incident, also known as Pennsylvania's Roswell will be one of the topics discussed in 'UFO Witness' premiering on Discovery+ with Never-Before-Released Project Blue Book Files. The 14-episode docuseries will explore the Kecksburg events, which occurred in 1965.
What was the Kecksburg incident?
Citizens reported seeing a massive fireball. The report came from six US states and Canada that also included Michigan and Detroit. While theorists and astronomers attributed it to a meteor that started burning up when it came in contact with the earth's atmosphere, NASA provided a statement in 2005 saying experts had looked at fragments and concluding they were from a Soviet satellite. Except, these findings were lost in the 90s. The Kecksburg incident became lore with conspiracy theories making rounds frequently.
Kosmos 96, the Soviet space probe was looked at as one of the objects that had burned up, while some felt it was an alien spacecraft. As far as these conspiracy theories go, there was also a Nazi connection to the Kecksburg incident as the History Channel's 'Ancient Aliens' in 2011 went on to suggest the alleged Nazi secret weapon 'Die Glocke' was recovered at the place of the incident leading to a government conspiracy and an immediate cover-up.
What is Die Glocke?
Die Glocke was the theory of an alleged top-secret Nazi scientific technological device. There were rumors milling that a weapon reportedly shaped like a bell made use of Nazi technology allowing the Germans to travel beyond Earth using a design called the “Nazi Bell,” or better known as Die Glocke.
According to Gaia, there have been written evidence of Die Glocke's existence. Polish journalist, Igor Witkowski wrote about the weapon in his book, 'Prawda o Wunderwaffe' (The Truth about the Wonder Weapon). Witkowski said he first discovered evidence in 1997 while looking over classified transcripts from Jakob Sporrenberg’s Polish War Crimes Court testimony. He also goes on to add that he received the documents from an unnamed individual who had worked within Poland’s intelligence. He explained that he adds wasn't permitted to make copies of the records.
So, was the case actually solved?
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the case now has a theory that might actually have solved the mystery. Two Westmoreland County researchers opined the fireball was "a General Electric Mark 2 Re-entry Vehicle that had been launched by the Air Force as a spy satellite but fell out of orbit."
John Ventre, the state director of the Mutual UFO Network and Owen Eichler worked together to come up with this theory after a detailed examination of the incident. "Personally, I’m rooting for the UFO evidence since I’m with the Mutual UFO Network,” Ventre said. “But I really have to say that we have an extremely good theory that this was a spy satellite."
Did NASA find the documents?
NASA agreed to search for the missing records after being ordered by a court following an investigative reporter, Leslie Kean who reportedly sued the space giant under the Freedom of Information Act. "I still believe, from all the work and the research and everything, that something came down” from the sky, Kean said. “But what it was, I have no idea," Kean told AP.
She dismisses NASA's comments that the object being a Russian satellite. “We wouldn’t be in a lawsuit if after all these years their PR guy could just tell us that’s what it was,” she opined. “For this guy to say it was a Russian satellite when NASA’s own expert says it couldn’t possibly be, that strikes me as bizarre.” (Via Penn Live)
The Kecksburg incident will be discussed in Episode 2 titled 'Alien Crash Secrets' of 'UFO Witness.' The episode streams Thursday, January 14, 2021, on Discovery+