UFO Sighting Report — Shutesbury, Massachusetts, 13 November 1964

This document collection details a UFO sighting reported on 13 November 1964 in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, by Mrs. Harriet E. Smith. Mrs. Smith described observing a bright, orange, disc-shaped object that moved from the northeast to the northwest at approximately 6:00 PM. She noted that the object, which she compared in size to a large harvest moon, emitted a glow that illuminated the area around her home, despite the house lights being off. The sighting lasted for approximately one minute. A similar sighting was reported at the same time by Reverend Ray Hass in West Suffield, Connecticut, who observed a bright orange object while looking west. The report was investigated by NICAP, specifically by Raymond E. Fowler, who submitted the findings to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. The correspondence included in the file shows a dialogue between a civilian and Major Maston M. Jacks of the USAF regarding the Air Force's handling of UFO reports, including the Socorro, New Mexico, and Glassboro, New Jersey, cases. The Air Force maintained that the Shutesbury sighting was not an unidentified flying object but an aircraft, explaining that the Westover AFB spokesman had referred the inquiry to the FAA, which identified the object as an aircraft. The Air Force further stated that its scientific investigation of UFOs had found no evidence of extraterrestrial objects under intelligent control, attributing thousands of observations to misinterpretations of conventional or natural objects.