KECKSBURG, Pa. -- The U.S. government says nothing of note happened in this small town in the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania on Dec. 9, 1965. A meteor may have passed by, but no alien ship or Russian space probe fell to Earth.
Still, Bill Bulebush, 82, says he knows what he saw, heard and smelled, despite the doubts of the government and others in Kecksburg Other people said that dozens of Army soldiers and three members of the Air Force showed up, and later that night a flatbed military truck took the object away.
Despite such accounts, the government has been "trying to make it out like we're a bunch of liars," Bulebush said.
A lawsuit was filed in December 2003 in the District of Columbia by Leslie Kean, a freelance journalist, with financial support from the SciFi Channel under the Freedom of Information Act. NASA reported that they had no files but proof of their having had files were reported back in the 1990's.
The case boiled over on March 20 for federal Judge Emmet Sullivan, who had tried to move NASA along for more than 3 years.
According to a transcript of the hearing that day, Sullivan angrily referred to NASA's search efforts as a "ball of yarn" that never fully answers the request, adding: "I can sense the plaintiff's frustration because I'm frustrated."
A settlement, reached Oct. 17, specifies how NASA will make a new search for records. Both sides will be required to report back to Sullivan periodically, starting this week.
