| GREENSBURG
, PA - On Saturday, December 10, 2005, a special event commemorating
the 40th anniversary of the Kecksburg UFO incident, will be
held at the Kecksburg, PA. V.F.D. community hall at 1 P.M.
Honoring witnesses and others associated with the 1965 incident,
the program will include exciting speakers and a film screening.
It will be free and open to the media and public, although
seating is limited.
| If
you are coming to Kecksburg for the event on December
10, 2005, and are looking for a place to stay nearby,
then may I suggest the historic R&R
Station Family Restaurant and Inn located only a few
miles from Kecksburg in the town of Mount Pleasant. This
is the location where the SCI FI Channel filmed some scenes
for their 2003 Kecksburg UFO documentaries. The place
is beautiful, the food is great, and it's reportedly haunted. |
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BACKGROUND
It was
late afternoon on December 9, 1965, when a brilliant fireball flashed
across the sky over four states and then reportedly fell into a
wooded area near the village of Kecksburg in Westmoreland County,
about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Witnesses first on the scene
describe a large metallic acorn-shaped object with odd hieroglyphic
markings, semi-buried in the ground. Soon after the object fell,
the military arrived and cordoned off the area, forbidding access
even to reporters. Later that night, other witnesses saw a military
flatbed tractor-trailer truck carrying a tarpaulin-covered object,
speeding from the area.
The next day,
government officials stated that nothing was found, and that the
fiery object was simply a meteor. Greensburg resident Stan Gordon
has been investigating the incident ever since it occurred. Over
the years he has interviewed hundreds of people and has collected
extensive documentation from the media, and other sources. Gordon
and many first-hand witnesses have become clear that, after 40 years,
the United States government is still denying the citizens of Pennsylvania
the truth about really happened that day in 1965. Gordon continues
to receive information about the event, and new details have surfaced
even in the last few years.
In 2002, the
SCI FI Channel initiated and supported an unprecedented effort to
find answers to the Kecksburg mystery. Investigative journalist
Leslie Kean, Director of Investigations for the Coalition for Freedom
of Information (CFi), a prestigious Washington law firm, and other
research specialists, attempted to open the government files on
the Kecksburg incident through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
This effort
won the support of John Podesta, President Clinton's former Chief
of Staff, and has been covered by media around the world. Lee Helfrich,
a partner at the participating law firm of Lobel, Novins, and Lamont,
in Washington, D.C., initiated legal action against NASA in 2003
on behalf of CFi, due to NASA's withholding of information pertinent
to the Kecksburg incident. The NASA lawsuit is currently pending.
THE
PROGRAM
Speakers will
travel to Kecksburg from New York City and Washington , D.C. The
program will include:
- Researcher
Stan Gordon with an illustrated talk about the Kecksburg UFO event
based on information that he has gathered over 40 years. Many
key witnesses to various aspects of the event are expected to
attend.
- Robert Gatty,
a reporter for the Greensburg Tribune-Review in 1965, describing
his assignment that night to cover “the story of the century.”
He was prevented from approaching the object by numerous Army
personnel on the scene, and wrote the next day’s front page
story “Unidentified Flying Object Falls Near Kecksburg…Army
Ropes off Area.” In the years following, Gatty worked for
UPI and for two U.S. Congressman on Capitol Hill.
- Larry Landsman,
the SCI FI Channel's, director of special projects, discussing
the national TV channel's unprecedented "UFO Advocacy Initiative"
that supported a recent investigation of the Kecksburg case by
the Coalition for Freedom of Information. The SCI FI Channel produced
two TV documentaries on the 1965 event, aired in 2003.
- Journalist
Leslie Kean, reporting on the stunning forensic evidence recently
discovered at the crash site and a renowned expert's determination
that the Kecksburg object could not have been a Soviet satellite
or anything man-made. Kean also located some Air Force personnel
who were involved in the search for the object. She will present
video clips of John Podesta speaking at CFi's Washington press
conferences.
- Attorney
Lee E. Helfrich, speaking about the current status of the lawsuit
filed against NASA in 2003, on behalf of CFi. She has faced numerous
obstacles and government stonewalling in attempting to access
information about the Kecksburg incident from government agencies.
- The SCI FI
Channel's TV documentary, "Kecksburg UFO: New Evidence,"
hosted by Bryant Gumbel, will be shown for public viewing after
the presentations are completed.
- The newly
organized Kecksburg V.F.D. UFO & Festival Committee welcomes
the public to visit the recently restored Kecksburg UFO monument
on display behind the fire station. This model was originally
constructed for the 1990 TV show Unsolved Mysteries. The Committee
will also be selling Kecksburg UFO T-shirts and other memorabilia
to support the fire department.
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