2005: Navy Veteran Observes Large Cigar-Shaped UFO in Exeter, NH

(Last Updated On: March 15, 2021)

THINK ABOUTIT SIGHTING REPORT

Date: July 20, 2005

Sighting Time: 3:15 PM.

Day/Night: Afternoon

Location: Exeter, New Hampshire

Urban or Rural: Rural

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc) Metallic or whitish object seen in the day.

Duration: 10 Minutes

No. of Object(s): 

Size of Object(s):

Distance to Object(s):

Shape of Object(s): Cigar

Color of Object(s):

Number of Witnesses:

Source:

Summary: There was something odd in the sky last week, something that caused a Navy veteran with 10,000 hours of flight experience to have his own close encounter. While preparing to mow his lawn, “David” saw a large cigar-shaped object hovering in the sky. He said it was about the size of two USS Nimitz aircraft carriers. [map id=”301″]

Full Report

An artist’s rendering of the reported UFO sighting in Exeter. Image courtesy of Angela Gram (printed in Exeter News-Letter)

An artist’s rendering depicts what “David” saw in the sky on Wednesday, July 20, from his Exeter home. The picture shows a large object shaped like a “silver cigar,” as David says it appeared just before the object vanished – twice the size at which he first viewed it, with flames billowing underneath. Image courtesy of Angela Gram (printed in Exeter News-Letter)

“UFO sighting in Exeter – again”

Exeter News-Letter, July 26, 2005
By Adam Dolge

EXETER – There was something odd in the sky last week, something that caused a Navy veteran with 10,000 hours of flight experience to have his own close encounter.

The former flight engineer, who wished to be identified only as “David,” said of the experience, “this was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

What the retired Navy chief petty officer said he saw last Wednesday could only be classified as a UFO, an unidentified flying object.

It was a bright and sunny afternoon, about 3:15 p.m., and David was outside preparing his lawnmower. He had filled the mower with gas, checked the oil, and took a sip from a glass of water he had poured. When he tilted his head back to get the final sip, through the bottom of the glass he saw a large cigar-shaped object hovering in the sky.

David said windows were equally spaced around the object, however he didn’t see anyone or anything inside. The size of the object was enormous. By comparison, he said, consider what an ultralight plane would look like next to a Boeing 747. He said it was about the size of two USS Nimitz aircraft carriers.

At first glance, through his empty glass of water he thought it could have been the Hood blimp. “But, the instant I put my glass down, I said, ‘that’s not a blimp.’”

The object moved from west to east, very slowly for something that size, he said. His initial instinct was that the object was moving at about 100 knots, but something that big shouldn’t be able to stay in the air if it’s going that slow, he said.

The object began changing colors from a bright silver to an orange-ish red. A strange cloud of red and orange flames began surrounding the object, and before he knew it the object stretched out like a rubber band. It grew to about twice its original size, and then it was gone.

The entire incident lasted about 10 minutes, he recalled Monday morning, but he is unaware of the specific time because, “it felt like time stopped.”

He went into his house and first thought to call the police. He decided not to because he didn’t think they’d take him seriously. So he went on the Internet and searched for “report UFO,” and found the Web site for the Seattle-based National UFO Reporting Center.

Peter Davenport, director of the UFO reporting center, said David’s report was astonishing because of his history with flight. “I have no question on his reliability.”

He said he gets several accounts each year, but this one stood out. The report was well written and scientific, Davenport said.

“In my view, that’s one of the cardinal rules of an account,” he said.

The center was founded in 1974 by UFO investigator Robert Gribble. The center’s Web site, www.nuforc.org, has a large list of UFO sightings. According to the site, the center’s primary function is to receive, record, and to the greatest degree possible, corroborate and document reports from individuals who have witnessed possible UFOs. David’s report, which will soon be on the Web site, will be among dozens of documented sightings to be formally reported to the center.

Not the first time

The Exeter area is no stranger to UFO sightings. In 1965, two Exeter police officers and hitchhiker Norman Muscarello, who was with them, gained national attention after seeing a UFO hovering over Route 101 in Kensington. The sighting was documented in a book called “The Incident at Exeter.”

And then there was the incident involving Barney and Betty Hill, a husband and wife from Portsmouth who claimed to have been abducted by aliens. The couple was driving from a vacation in Canada in 1961 when they saw a UFO.

The object moved directly over their car, and before they knew it they grew drowsy. They later claimed to have been abducted by aliens and gave identical accounts while they were hypnotized.

But for this recent sighting, David said he believes that there is life beyond Earth. He said the galaxy is so enormous, it’s hard to believe humans are the only intelligent life.

“To the point of not being obnoxious, it’d be egocentric to think there is no other life out there.”

UFO saga continues

Source: Exeter News-Letter (Exeter, New Hampshire), July 29, 2005
Original Source

By Adam Dolge
adolge@seacoastonline.com

EXETER – There has been a considerable response to Tuesday’s article in the News-Letter about a recent UFO sighting. Interested local residents and skeptics joined UFO enthusiasts commenting from throughout the nation, and reaction was even received from a French “Ufologist” who recalled two similar sightings in Europe.

Yann Marchandin, the French “Ufologist” who contacted the News-Letter via e-mail, said there was a similar UFO sighting in Poland in 1997 and another in 1999. In both incidents, witnesses claimed to have seen large “military ship-sized” tubes, or cigar-shaped objects in the sky.

She said this recent report, by an Exeter man who wished to be identified only as “David,” was very interesting to her because of its similarities to the two other sightings and also because of his military and aviation background.

There were also those who questioned the recent sighting. If the object was so large in the sky, why did nobody else see it, many asked in e-mails sent to the News-Letter.

Last Wednesday, Aug. 20, David reported seeing a silver, cigar-shaped object around 3 p.m. that he said was roughly the size of two aircraft carriers. It changed colors to an orange-red before stretching to twice its original size, then disappearing.

David is recently retired as a flight engineer with the U.S. Navy and has logged more than 10,000 hours in the air.

Contcted this week, David said he couldn’t explain why he alone saw the UFO, and he even asked several of his neighbors if they saw anything odd that day. No one had, he said.

He still has several houses to check, as he lives in a neighborhood with about two dozen homes.

The Exeter Police Department said there were no reports that day, or since then, of a UFO sighting. Local Federal Aviation Administration officials could not be reached for comment.

But Peter Davenport, director of the National UFO Reporting Center in Seattle, said there are various reasons why no one else witnessed what David did. David submitted a report to the reporting center shortly after his encounter.

Davenport said that perhaps David was in the right place at the right time. Also, the object’s technology could have been so advanced that it might only have been visible from where David was standing.

David’s report will soon be available for public viewing at the center’s Web site at www.nuforc.org

Man Reports Seeing UFO Over Exeter – Artist Makes Drawing Based On Man’s Description

Source: WMUR News 9, New Hampshire

EXETER, N.H. — A man in Exeter claimed that he recently saw an object the size of two aircraft carriers hovering in the sky, but some think it’s nothing more than a tall tale.

Artist Angela Gram met with the man who said that he saw the object on a recent afternoon.

“First, it started off as a cylindrical shape. It was silver and metallic,” Gram said. “And later on, it turned color to orange and there were flames underneath.”

Gram created a rendering of the object based on the man’s description. She said that his story was believable.

“He was an ex-Navy pilot, and he seemed to know what he was talking about in terms of aircraft,” she said.

The man — whose identity is also a mystery — said he didn’t think police would believe him, so he called the National UFO Reporting Center instead.

In his report, he said, “the object seemed to stretch out about twice its original size and then in a blink of an eye, it simply disappeared right in front of me.”

Over the years, there have been other UFO sightings in New Hampshire. Some residents said they think it’s possible that there’s other life out there, but many aren’t convinced that aliens are piloting vehicles over the New Hampshire skies.

“I don’t believe it,” one resident said. “It would be nice to think about, but it’s a figment of the imagination, I think.”

But Gram said that she’s convinced it’s not a hoax and that her drawing represents what the man saw.