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Incident at Exeter
Story of a visit from Aliens to a NH town.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
221 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
4 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
About the author
John G. Fuller
33 books36 followersJohn Grant Fuller, Jr. (1913 - 1990) was a New England-based American author of several non-fiction books and newspaper articles, mainly focusing on the theme of extra-terrestrials and the supernatural. For many years he wrote a regular column for the Saturday Review magazine, called "Trade Winds". His three most famous books were The Ghost of Flight 401, Incident at Exeter, and The Interrupted Journey.
The Ghost of Flight 401 was based on the tragic Eastern Air Lines airplane crash in December 1972, and the alleged supernatural events which followed; it was eventually turned into a popular 1978 made-for-television movie.
Incident at Exeter concerned a series of well-publicized UFO sightings in and around the town of Exeter, New Hampshire in the fall of 1965 (see the Exeter incident). Fuller personally investigated the sightings and interviewed many of the eyewitnesses, he also claimed to have seen a UFO himself during his investigation.
The Interrupted Journey tells the story of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction. The Hills were a married couple who claimed to have been abducted in 1961 by the occupants of a UFO in the White Mountains of New Hampshire while returning home from a vacation. The book was the first to seriously claim that competent, reliable witnesses were being abducted by UFOs for medical and scientific experiments. The book remains one of the most influential in UFO history; and has been hotly debated since its publication. Like The Ghost of Flight 401, The Interrupted Journey was also turned into a made-for-television movie in 1975.
Fuller wrote The Great Soul Trial (1969) about the disappearance of Arizona Miner James Kidd and the later trial regarding his will, which left his fortune to anyone who could prove the existence of the human soul. The book was published prior to the final resolution of the case in 1971.
John was also married to a NorthWest flight Attendant who was the researcher mentioned in his book "Ghost of Flight 401" His book We Almost Lost Detroit deals with a serious accident at the Fermi nuclear power plant near Detroit. The book title was later the title of a song by Gil Scott-Heron on the No Nukes live album recorded by the Musicians United for Safe Energy.
He wrote two plays -- The Pink Elephant, which opened in 1953, and Love Me Little, which opened in 1958, both on Broadway.
His most important book was the fictional novel We Almost Lost Detroit. There is a song by Gil Scott-Heron, same title.
Fuller died of lung cancer in 1990.
The Ghost of Flight 401 was based on the tragic Eastern Air Lines airplane crash in December 1972, and the alleged supernatural events which followed; it was eventually turned into a popular 1978 made-for-television movie.
Incident at Exeter concerned a series of well-publicized UFO sightings in and around the town of Exeter, New Hampshire in the fall of 1965 (see the Exeter incident). Fuller personally investigated the sightings and interviewed many of the eyewitnesses, he also claimed to have seen a UFO himself during his investigation.
The Interrupted Journey tells the story of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction. The Hills were a married couple who claimed to have been abducted in 1961 by the occupants of a UFO in the White Mountains of New Hampshire while returning home from a vacation. The book was the first to seriously claim that competent, reliable witnesses were being abducted by UFOs for medical and scientific experiments. The book remains one of the most influential in UFO history; and has been hotly debated since its publication. Like The Ghost of Flight 401, The Interrupted Journey was also turned into a made-for-television movie in 1975.
Fuller wrote The Great Soul Trial (1969) about the disappearance of Arizona Miner James Kidd and the later trial regarding his will, which left his fortune to anyone who could prove the existence of the human soul. The book was published prior to the final resolution of the case in 1971.
John was also married to a NorthWest flight Attendant who was the researcher mentioned in his book "Ghost of Flight 401" His book We Almost Lost Detroit deals with a serious accident at the Fermi nuclear power plant near Detroit. The book title was later the title of a song by Gil Scott-Heron on the No Nukes live album recorded by the Musicians United for Safe Energy.
He wrote two plays -- The Pink Elephant, which opened in 1953, and Love Me Little, which opened in 1958, both on Broadway.
His most important book was the fictional novel We Almost Lost Detroit. There is a song by Gil Scott-Heron, same title.
Fuller died of lung cancer in 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 27, 2011
This is not a tale of wrinkled gray aliens with big heads who want to cross breed with the human race and reveal to us the meaning of life. It is a seminal work of UFO literature. Written in the wake of the UFO flap of the mid-1960s, it is a serious book - an attempt by a mainstream journalist to reach a conclusion about the UFO phenomenon. John G. Fuller, a columnist for the respected “Saturday Review” wrote this book to expand on an article he had written for “Look” magazine. In the late summer of 1965, the New Hampshire seacoast became a hotbed of flying saucer sightings. Fuller hoped to use this region as a microcosm to solve the nationwide UFO mystery. But, (in his own words) in the end he had plenty of repetitive evidence from credible witnesses but no proof. After nearly 50 years, this book is still essential reading for all who are interested in the unexplained.
Still, it is an old story about an old topic and my only two Goodreads friends might find the peccadilloes of the book more interesting than the story itself. So there begins this review. Fuller writes a gripping preface, with beautifully descriptive imagery of the New Hampshire seacoast- then torpedoes it with this sentence: “Off the coast nearby are the ghostly Isles of Shoals, neighbors to the shattered hull of the sunken atomic submarine, the Thresher.” The wreck of the Thresher lies approximately 200 miles east of Cape Cod, which in itself is nearly 100 miles east of the Isles of Shoals. I suppose in the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, one could argue that 300 or more miles might be considered a neighborly distance. In Chapter V, Fuller writes that one of his sources lived in Wenham, Massachusetts and worked in “nearby Waltham”. Waltham is not nearby Wenham, neither physically nor metaphysically. Then, in Chapter VII he writes this ridiculous commentary on a witness: “What’s more, she was aware of her compass directions, a rare attribute for a woman”. She seems to have a better since of direction than he. Finally, he called New Hampshire seacoast residents “Down Easters”. No Mainer would ever bestow the title of Down Easter on anyone but a native born citizen of the Pine Tree State.
The book is also marred by culinary inaccuracies. In Chapter VI Fuller recounts stopping at a bakery for “hot donuts, just out of the oven.” Donuts emerge from a fryer - that’s why they’re so healthy. And in Chapter IX: “Meanwhile, she served me an egg-salad sandwich and a chocolate frapp, as they called milkshakes there in Derry…” This statement amused me on two levels. First, even the proofreader misspelled “frapp”, which a previous borrower of this book from the Boston Public Library corrected by writing in the “e” on the page! Second, milkshakes and frappes are two distinct beverages in New England. In New England, a milk shake consists of milk and flavored syrup while a frappe contains those ingredients plus ice cream. Elsewhere in the nation, a milkshake might contain all three ingredients. However, no one in New England calls a milkshake a frappe. A milkshake is a milkshake (no ice cream) and a frappe is a frappe (has ice cream).
The book also contains two factual errors. In Chapter XI, Fuller attributes this statement to a representative of NICAP, the famous UFO study organization: “The landing in New Mexico, where a police officer by the name of Socorro saw it…” The landing was in Socorro, New Mexico. The police officer’s name was Lonnie Zamora. In Chapter XIV, he describes a “brilliant hunter’s moon” on November 9, 1965, the night of the Great Northeast Blackout. The November full moon is the Beaver Moon, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Fuller’s research put him in contact with Betty and Barney Hill, the most famous UFO abductees of all time. His next book was the story of their abduction,The Interrupted Journey,which, in my humble opinion is the quintessential flying saucer book. He eventually established a niche as a respected author in the genre of speculative literature with other titles such as The Ghost of Flight 401 and The Airmen Who Would not Die.
Still, it is an old story about an old topic and my only two Goodreads friends might find the peccadilloes of the book more interesting than the story itself. So there begins this review. Fuller writes a gripping preface, with beautifully descriptive imagery of the New Hampshire seacoast- then torpedoes it with this sentence: “Off the coast nearby are the ghostly Isles of Shoals, neighbors to the shattered hull of the sunken atomic submarine, the Thresher.” The wreck of the Thresher lies approximately 200 miles east of Cape Cod, which in itself is nearly 100 miles east of the Isles of Shoals. I suppose in the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, one could argue that 300 or more miles might be considered a neighborly distance. In Chapter V, Fuller writes that one of his sources lived in Wenham, Massachusetts and worked in “nearby Waltham”. Waltham is not nearby Wenham, neither physically nor metaphysically. Then, in Chapter VII he writes this ridiculous commentary on a witness: “What’s more, she was aware of her compass directions, a rare attribute for a woman”. She seems to have a better since of direction than he. Finally, he called New Hampshire seacoast residents “Down Easters”. No Mainer would ever bestow the title of Down Easter on anyone but a native born citizen of the Pine Tree State.
The book is also marred by culinary inaccuracies. In Chapter VI Fuller recounts stopping at a bakery for “hot donuts, just out of the oven.” Donuts emerge from a fryer - that’s why they’re so healthy. And in Chapter IX: “Meanwhile, she served me an egg-salad sandwich and a chocolate frapp, as they called milkshakes there in Derry…” This statement amused me on two levels. First, even the proofreader misspelled “frapp”, which a previous borrower of this book from the Boston Public Library corrected by writing in the “e” on the page! Second, milkshakes and frappes are two distinct beverages in New England. In New England, a milk shake consists of milk and flavored syrup while a frappe contains those ingredients plus ice cream. Elsewhere in the nation, a milkshake might contain all three ingredients. However, no one in New England calls a milkshake a frappe. A milkshake is a milkshake (no ice cream) and a frappe is a frappe (has ice cream).
The book also contains two factual errors. In Chapter XI, Fuller attributes this statement to a representative of NICAP, the famous UFO study organization: “The landing in New Mexico, where a police officer by the name of Socorro saw it…” The landing was in Socorro, New Mexico. The police officer’s name was Lonnie Zamora. In Chapter XIV, he describes a “brilliant hunter’s moon” on November 9, 1965, the night of the Great Northeast Blackout. The November full moon is the Beaver Moon, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Fuller’s research put him in contact with Betty and Barney Hill, the most famous UFO abductees of all time. His next book was the story of their abduction,The Interrupted Journey,which, in my humble opinion is the quintessential flying saucer book. He eventually established a niche as a respected author in the genre of speculative literature with other titles such as The Ghost of Flight 401 and The Airmen Who Would not Die.
September 8, 2019
I am still on my alien/UFO research kick, and will probably be on it for some time (looking at the stack of books I have recently accumulated). My reviews will most likely be based on the information I received from it as opposed to the actual writing talent. This book was written by an investigative journalist who initially set out to investigate a rash of UFO sightings that had taken place in and around Exeter NH during the mid 1960’s. He was doing the research for a planned magazine article. During the investigation, he accumulated so much information he ended up writing this book in addition to the magazine article. I was especially impressed with his background research as well as his interviewing techniques when interviewing the numerous witnesses. If I was not already a “believer” (having seen a UFO myself), this book would make me a believer. The author himself was a sceptic originally at the start of this project. But at the end he was a believer.
September 27, 2018
Well, I'm convinced.
I enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected to. It may be a little dated, may be a little dry, but it's like a masterclass in solid investigative reporting and how to organize your findings into an engaging book format. For the record, I do not believe in aliens (partly because I really don't want them to exist). But I'm less skeptical when it comes to unidentified flying objects, especially since I saw one myself a couple years ago. I doubt we'll ever find out if the UFOs sighted in and around Exeter, NH, in 1965 were of extraterrestrial origin. But there was definitely something strange going on. Either way, if it was aliens or not, it made for a good spooky story to get caught up in on a stormy September night.
I enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected to. It may be a little dated, may be a little dry, but it's like a masterclass in solid investigative reporting and how to organize your findings into an engaging book format. For the record, I do not believe in aliens (partly because I really don't want them to exist). But I'm less skeptical when it comes to unidentified flying objects, especially since I saw one myself a couple years ago. I doubt we'll ever find out if the UFOs sighted in and around Exeter, NH, in 1965 were of extraterrestrial origin. But there was definitely something strange going on. Either way, if it was aliens or not, it made for a good spooky story to get caught up in on a stormy September night.
June 29, 2021
A classic of the genre, written in a very "just the facts ma'am" style that I really appreciate. The most interesting thing about this book is looking back at how American culture has changed since the 60's, when people were openly talking about seeing these things and demanding that the government do something about it.
March 29, 2024
No conclusions drawn. Boring.
This reads like a newspaper or magazine article. Incident at Exeter is good for a jumping off point for further investigation and study. Written in 1965, we can look forward through time and see if anything has changed or if there is anything new to add to the equation.
For example, in the preface, Gerald R Ford (House republican leader, and Michigan's 5th district representative (1949-1973)) proposed that a committee look into recent UFO sightings. No committee was ever created. Ford did get Project Blue Book started on a report. However, after three years of investigation, Project Blue Book released the following:
This reads like a newspaper or magazine article. Incident at Exeter is good for a jumping off point for further investigation and study. Written in 1965, we can look forward through time and see if anything has changed or if there is anything new to add to the equation.
For example, in the preface, Gerald R Ford (House republican leader, and Michigan's 5th district representative (1949-1973)) proposed that a committee look into recent UFO sightings. No committee was ever created. Ford did get Project Blue Book started on a report. However, after three years of investigation, Project Blue Book released the following:
"As a result of these investigations and studies and experience gained from investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project BLUE BOOK are:(1) no UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our national security;(2) there has been no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as “unidentified” represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present-day scientific knowledge; and(3) there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as “unidentified” are extraterrestrial vehicles."
I wonder if Ford as president was briefed on highly classified extraterrestrial vehicles retained by the US for study. The US will never admit to anything about UFOs because to do so will cause the public to want to know what these extraterrestrials want from Earth. These insights could change history.
Another jumping off point is Fuller's mention of FTD or Foreign Technology Division at Wright Patterson AFB. As far as I know FTD's main thrust is to back engineer systems developed by other countries such as Russia, and China. If there was something of extraterrestrial origin, that would be handled by something within the Government unnamed and unknown by the public.
As I wrote in my introductory paragraph, the writing is boring but I did enjoy reading about towns here in New England. All of the locations mentioned in the book do exist. Exeter even has an annual "Exeter UFO Festival".
I think the author asked the wrong questions in his interviews. I would have analyzed the sightings and have come to better conclusions than "the UFOs were attracted to high power transmission lines". Based on the reports in the book, I tried to come up with some kind of pattern or reason for the sightings. The only thing I thought of was that UFOs are simply measuring and testing our responses and our technology. I was surprised that the UFOs reported were so large. Today it seems as though the probes we've seen in videos are much smaller in size. If I were an extraterrestrial, I would be doing my thing and let my machines do all the work. But here is a thought: What if the organic creatures we call Greys are nothing more than biological machines? They don't have any sex.
The book I read,I got from the library. It was an original copy from 1965. Since it was a hard copy, I observed that the beginning pages were much more worn and dog eared than the last half of the book. Therefore I believe many people were turned off by the continual case after case ramblings and no conclusions drawn. The book itself was just not well organized. The ending was no real ending:
"In the light of recent developments, the situation has reached a point where it appears to be the duty and responsibility of the Government either to reveal what it knows, or to order a scientific investigation on a major scale and report the findings immediately to the public at large."Yeah, THAT's not going to happen!
August 26, 2022
Based in 1965, written by a reporter. Seeing as it is all interviews and people's recollection/interpretation of their UFO sitings, the material could get a little dry or repetitive, but usually moved on fairly quickly. I personally did enjoy this book. It is hard to get online and just find information about UFOs. This was a time when investigation reporting was how people were informed, Fuller took his job seriously and provided as much detail as available. I recommend this book if you want details. I searched for images this book mentioned and found them easily online. You could follow along with where the sitings were on a map, and where he went for interviews and it just brought things in and made it all the more real for me.
July 15, 2024
Another good UFO book. I will say this though...it starts to get repetitive. Essentially, aliens exist and the Air Force is covering it up. If you believe this, then you are learning more what the ships look like, sound like. Was this the last time they were here, or was this the last time the government would let us know?
August 9, 2022
It is a report of a solid investigation, by an accredited journalist, about the multiple UFO sightings, in the region (Exeter, NH) circa 1965. It states a couple events that seems 100% believable, no explanation possible other than an UFO event.
July 15, 2025
This was one of the most well written and objective UFO books I have ever read. A very comprehensive look at the Exeter Incident with details I’ve never heard before. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject.
June 3, 2018
Interesting only because my bestie lives near here and also because I saw a UFO around the same time. period.
Read
July 3, 2019Very interesting read. Lot of documented unexplained sightings.
November 19, 2022
Very well researched of the UFO sightings in the mid 1960s. Put together very well.
June 6, 2025
A WELL-KNOWN WRITER LOOKS IN DETAIL AT THIS PARTICULAR INCIDENT
John Grant Fuller, Jr. (1913-1990) was an American author of several nonfiction books and newspaper articles, and well as a former columnist for the Saturday Review magazine. Although many of his books focus on UFOs or other ‘supernatural’ topics, he also wrote an important anti-nuclear power book, ‘We Almost Lost Detroit.’
He wrote in the Preface to this 1966 book, “It was in mid-September of 1965 I learned of the incident at Exeter… It was the beginning of a search which was to continue for many weeks… The point of the search was to find the most logical possible explanation for a dramatic and unusual circumstance involving an Unidentified Flying Object, or UFO. If it had not been for the transistor tape recorder I carried, I would have had serious misgivings about completing the project. The reports that I recorded seemed so improbable… that written notes alone might not have been enough to convince both the editors of ‘Look’ Magazine and the publishers that over 60 people testified to what they saw with intensity and conviction.” (Pg. 6-7)
He continues, “This book was no sooner completed, when UFO reports began to break out in un precedented numbers all over the country. After my research in Exeter, I was convinced that this would happen, surprised that it had not happened sooner. For the first time, the general press began treating the subject with respect. I knew that Exeter was only a microcosm… of a story… that was taking place… in increasing frequency all over the world… I decided to use Exeter because of a well-documented case there involving the police.” (Pg. 7)
He explains, “The recent sightings, the extreme low-level sightings by responsible officials which couldn’t possibly be mistaken for planes or stars or balloons, were impressive, as were the 600 older cases documented by NICAP [National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena] so painstakingly in its book, ‘The UFO Evidence.’ Together, the old and new cases covered the entire globe. As a single reporter, I could not possibly track down enough direct interviews over such an area and contribute anything new in clarifying the mystery. But I could, I felt, take one single microcosmic area there a recent, low-level sighting has been made, and explore it to absolute rock bottom… What’s more, although NICAP had done a thorough job in documenting cases throughout the world, they had not completed a crash program in this area. To accomplish this, I made plans to go to Exeter to explore in person the incident there.” (Pg. 41-42)
After interviewing a number of witnesses, he recounts, “I was working on hearsay now, but I knew I was going to be checking most of the leads directly, and it was possible I could pick up some other helpful details. As long as I could follow it up, I was finding that hearsay could be helpful.” (Pg. 72)
He points out, “The possibilities seemed to boil down to one of three things: first, a revolutionary government secret weapon… Second, it might be a foreign craft, Russia’s perhaps… Third, it could be an interplanetary craft, coming from a civilization far advanced beyond our own… [But] there seemed to be arguments against any one of them being likely, also. If it were an experimental aircraft of our own design and making, it would be required to carry conventional running lights just for air safety… If the craft were of foreign origin, why had it not set off vociferous complaints about violation of air space… If the UFOs were extraterrestrial, why had they not attempted to communicate with us?... Unless, of course, they had already communicated with authorities who had decided to withhold the intelligence on the theory that the public might panic. The latter possibility is at once the most logical and still most illogical… It is, at once, illogical because there seems to be no physical proof whatever.” (Pg. 82-83)
Later, he adds, “It was hard to understand why, if the theory that these objects were experimental aircraft of the Air Force were valid, they were permitted to so upset citizens in populated areas. And why was the Air Force apparently sending fighters after them?” (Pg. 138)
He records one witness, “I had such a long time to study this thing… and it was so low, that there couldn’t be any remote possibility of mistaking this for a plane or helicopter or balloon. Then there was the dog. He ran around in circles. You can’t fool a dog, can you?” (Pg. 156)
He observes, “But most startling to me was the appearance of the objects over or near the power lines. Whatever clue this might be, the observation had been repeated too many times to be treated as incidental.” (Pg. 156)
He concludes, “I started on this story as a friendly skeptic. I ended the research with a conviction that is it no longer a laughing matter, and that it is vital and important for the mystery to be solved one way or another.” (Pg. 211)
This book (which, having been written by a professional writer, is much more well-written than most UFO books) will be of great interest to those studying UFOs.
John Grant Fuller, Jr. (1913-1990) was an American author of several nonfiction books and newspaper articles, and well as a former columnist for the Saturday Review magazine. Although many of his books focus on UFOs or other ‘supernatural’ topics, he also wrote an important anti-nuclear power book, ‘We Almost Lost Detroit.’
He wrote in the Preface to this 1966 book, “It was in mid-September of 1965 I learned of the incident at Exeter… It was the beginning of a search which was to continue for many weeks… The point of the search was to find the most logical possible explanation for a dramatic and unusual circumstance involving an Unidentified Flying Object, or UFO. If it had not been for the transistor tape recorder I carried, I would have had serious misgivings about completing the project. The reports that I recorded seemed so improbable… that written notes alone might not have been enough to convince both the editors of ‘Look’ Magazine and the publishers that over 60 people testified to what they saw with intensity and conviction.” (Pg. 6-7)
He continues, “This book was no sooner completed, when UFO reports began to break out in un precedented numbers all over the country. After my research in Exeter, I was convinced that this would happen, surprised that it had not happened sooner. For the first time, the general press began treating the subject with respect. I knew that Exeter was only a microcosm… of a story… that was taking place… in increasing frequency all over the world… I decided to use Exeter because of a well-documented case there involving the police.” (Pg. 7)
He explains, “The recent sightings, the extreme low-level sightings by responsible officials which couldn’t possibly be mistaken for planes or stars or balloons, were impressive, as were the 600 older cases documented by NICAP [National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena] so painstakingly in its book, ‘The UFO Evidence.’ Together, the old and new cases covered the entire globe. As a single reporter, I could not possibly track down enough direct interviews over such an area and contribute anything new in clarifying the mystery. But I could, I felt, take one single microcosmic area there a recent, low-level sighting has been made, and explore it to absolute rock bottom… What’s more, although NICAP had done a thorough job in documenting cases throughout the world, they had not completed a crash program in this area. To accomplish this, I made plans to go to Exeter to explore in person the incident there.” (Pg. 41-42)
After interviewing a number of witnesses, he recounts, “I was working on hearsay now, but I knew I was going to be checking most of the leads directly, and it was possible I could pick up some other helpful details. As long as I could follow it up, I was finding that hearsay could be helpful.” (Pg. 72)
He points out, “The possibilities seemed to boil down to one of three things: first, a revolutionary government secret weapon… Second, it might be a foreign craft, Russia’s perhaps… Third, it could be an interplanetary craft, coming from a civilization far advanced beyond our own… [But] there seemed to be arguments against any one of them being likely, also. If it were an experimental aircraft of our own design and making, it would be required to carry conventional running lights just for air safety… If the craft were of foreign origin, why had it not set off vociferous complaints about violation of air space… If the UFOs were extraterrestrial, why had they not attempted to communicate with us?... Unless, of course, they had already communicated with authorities who had decided to withhold the intelligence on the theory that the public might panic. The latter possibility is at once the most logical and still most illogical… It is, at once, illogical because there seems to be no physical proof whatever.” (Pg. 82-83)
Later, he adds, “It was hard to understand why, if the theory that these objects were experimental aircraft of the Air Force were valid, they were permitted to so upset citizens in populated areas. And why was the Air Force apparently sending fighters after them?” (Pg. 138)
He records one witness, “I had such a long time to study this thing… and it was so low, that there couldn’t be any remote possibility of mistaking this for a plane or helicopter or balloon. Then there was the dog. He ran around in circles. You can’t fool a dog, can you?” (Pg. 156)
He observes, “But most startling to me was the appearance of the objects over or near the power lines. Whatever clue this might be, the observation had been repeated too many times to be treated as incidental.” (Pg. 156)
He concludes, “I started on this story as a friendly skeptic. I ended the research with a conviction that is it no longer a laughing matter, and that it is vital and important for the mystery to be solved one way or another.” (Pg. 211)
This book (which, having been written by a professional writer, is much more well-written than most UFO books) will be of great interest to those studying UFOs.
February 2, 2019
1965 was one of the most notable years for mass UFO sightings, and one of the most famous cases of that so-called "flap" was the sighting of strange flying objects by a hitchhiker, residents and subsequently several members the police department at a town called Exeter in New Hampshire.
John Fuller, famous for writing The Interrupted Journey about the first classic UFO abduction case involving Betty and Barney Hill dating from four years earlier (and also in New Hampshire), takes a fine-toothed comb to the Exeter case, interviewing seemingly everybody in the town and beyond, showing both honed reporting chops and a very smooth narrative talent. It is undoubtedly as complete a rundown of the event as is humanly possible to craft. He bolsters it with tons of context, including many other cases that occurred at the time. Fuller's book was so popular that even today people use his book title to refer to the case: the incident at Exeter.
There's nothing wrong with Fuller's writing skills or with his reporting, so why give the book only three stars? I think the problem is with the Exeter case itself. Not that I'm contesting anything said by the witnesses or the validity of their claims, but that the Exeter case is -- in comparison to many of the more sensational UFO cases that have occurred since -- a tad dullish. Some people in a small town saw a weird aerial object, and it went away. OK. There are no aliens peeking through windows or walking through walls or drawing people into the UFO with a beam of light or anally probing them. It's just not a very exciting case, and once Fuller has pretty much completely described it in the opening pages of the book the rest of the narrative is about Fuller investigating the case, finding a lot of corroborating eyewitness testimony. After about a dozen eyewitness accounts in which everyone says the same thing (to paraphrase: "I saw a funny craft that behaved oddly behind the power lines and above the treetops before it shot away," etc.), you pretty much get the point. And this investigation leads -- retroactively -- to the story already told at the beginning, so it's anticlimactic, in a sense. Fuller's interviews with people at NICAP (a UFO study group) about the government's handling of UFO cases are much more interesting than the Exeter citizen's sightings, in my view.
In fact, the main value of the book is not really in detailing the Exeter case, but in Fuller's citing of other cases and of some of the perplexing issues about UFOs in general, especially the Air Force's ludicrous dismissal of reliable witnesses (including countless experienced commercial and military pilots), and that's really what makes it a key book in the genre. Fuller points out, even by quoting official documents, that the government took UFOs deadly seriously in-house, but waved them off as baseless gossamer fantasies in public.
Fuller does devote a chapter to the infamous 1965 power blackout that plunged 36 million people in the Northeast U.S. (including New York City) into darkness. Since no real cause was ever found for it, and UFOs were seen in the vicinity of the power stations, it too has become one of the most famous legends of UFO lore.
This is a strong three-star rating, straddling four stars. It is a classic book on the subject, but, like I said the case itself no longer seems that intriguing to me. I guess UFO porn, like any porn, is less exciting unless it becomes increasingly stranger.
(P.S.: I did find it interesting that Fuller alludes to the Roswell case here by mentioning the rumors of aliens bodies being kept at Wright-Patterson AFB, since the Roswell alien crash case had not been written about for the most part until the 1970s. This puts him a little ahead of the curve. Also, the book sometimes shows its age. On one page he says something about a Mexican UFO flap and in alluding to the witnesses refers to "Latin hot blood"; something that back in the day wouldn't have caused a reader to bat an eye but which now seems quaint indeed).
(KevinR@Ky 2016)
John Fuller, famous for writing The Interrupted Journey about the first classic UFO abduction case involving Betty and Barney Hill dating from four years earlier (and also in New Hampshire), takes a fine-toothed comb to the Exeter case, interviewing seemingly everybody in the town and beyond, showing both honed reporting chops and a very smooth narrative talent. It is undoubtedly as complete a rundown of the event as is humanly possible to craft. He bolsters it with tons of context, including many other cases that occurred at the time. Fuller's book was so popular that even today people use his book title to refer to the case: the incident at Exeter.
There's nothing wrong with Fuller's writing skills or with his reporting, so why give the book only three stars? I think the problem is with the Exeter case itself. Not that I'm contesting anything said by the witnesses or the validity of their claims, but that the Exeter case is -- in comparison to many of the more sensational UFO cases that have occurred since -- a tad dullish. Some people in a small town saw a weird aerial object, and it went away. OK. There are no aliens peeking through windows or walking through walls or drawing people into the UFO with a beam of light or anally probing them. It's just not a very exciting case, and once Fuller has pretty much completely described it in the opening pages of the book the rest of the narrative is about Fuller investigating the case, finding a lot of corroborating eyewitness testimony. After about a dozen eyewitness accounts in which everyone says the same thing (to paraphrase: "I saw a funny craft that behaved oddly behind the power lines and above the treetops before it shot away," etc.), you pretty much get the point. And this investigation leads -- retroactively -- to the story already told at the beginning, so it's anticlimactic, in a sense. Fuller's interviews with people at NICAP (a UFO study group) about the government's handling of UFO cases are much more interesting than the Exeter citizen's sightings, in my view.
In fact, the main value of the book is not really in detailing the Exeter case, but in Fuller's citing of other cases and of some of the perplexing issues about UFOs in general, especially the Air Force's ludicrous dismissal of reliable witnesses (including countless experienced commercial and military pilots), and that's really what makes it a key book in the genre. Fuller points out, even by quoting official documents, that the government took UFOs deadly seriously in-house, but waved them off as baseless gossamer fantasies in public.
Fuller does devote a chapter to the infamous 1965 power blackout that plunged 36 million people in the Northeast U.S. (including New York City) into darkness. Since no real cause was ever found for it, and UFOs were seen in the vicinity of the power stations, it too has become one of the most famous legends of UFO lore.
This is a strong three-star rating, straddling four stars. It is a classic book on the subject, but, like I said the case itself no longer seems that intriguing to me. I guess UFO porn, like any porn, is less exciting unless it becomes increasingly stranger.
(P.S.: I did find it interesting that Fuller alludes to the Roswell case here by mentioning the rumors of aliens bodies being kept at Wright-Patterson AFB, since the Roswell alien crash case had not been written about for the most part until the 1970s. This puts him a little ahead of the curve. Also, the book sometimes shows its age. On one page he says something about a Mexican UFO flap and in alluding to the witnesses refers to "Latin hot blood"; something that back in the day wouldn't have caused a reader to bat an eye but which now seems quaint indeed).
(KevinR@Ky 2016)
July 15, 2011
In 1965 journalist Fuller, having heard of a rash of UFO sightings in New Hampshire, travelled there to interview witnesses and made a sighting himself. Interestingly, these sightings tended, he noted, to be associated with electric transmission lines. More interestingly, there was a possibly significant association between the times of these sightings near the lines and the great blackout which covered much of the northeast of the United States.
November 21, 2024
I read this book in high school. Even though I have always been a natural skeptic the book had a profound impact on me then. It is one of the few books that have left me with such a strong memory all these years later.
January 12, 2007
loved this book. if its all true there is some scary stuff going on in our skies.
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October 8, 2015Adiós, Fuller. Me perdiste para siempre, wn fome.
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