Kecksburg UFO

This is the fun thing I teased a few days ago.

On the evening of Dec. 9, 1965, people from Canada to Pennsylvania saw a fiery streak in the sky. It appeared to change directions. It crashed in a ravine near the tiny community of Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) southeast of Pittsburgh.

Some people approached the smoking crash site and reported seeing an acorn-shaped object about as big as a VW Beetle. It had writing on the side that one person described as like hieroglyphics. Shortly after the incident, the military came in and closed off the site. A flatbed semi came by and hauled the object away.

I learned about this when I was 7 years old because of an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" that was largely about this incident. I don't know why, but it stuck with me. I enjoyed seeing it again in reruns and even remembered it when I streamed the entire series a few years ago. When I would stream it, I would look up cases to see if they ever were solved or to see their locations. When doing that, I learned that Kecksburg received the UFO prop from the show and put it on display. After moving to Maryland, I learned that Kecksburg is only about an hour and a half away.

While Jill and I took photos, a car pulled up and two men stepped out. One of them said he was from the area and was around when the incident happened. He was showing his brother-in-law the UFO. They asked me to take their picture. I hope they aren't carrying the virus. I wore a mask, but they did not.

I laughed the whole drive home. It's so amusing to me that 1. The town saved the prop, 2. it's near where I live and 3. I freaking visited it!

The drive was pretty. The leaves are changing at higher elevations, and there are some two-lane roads that wind through hills and trees that I enjoyed. Jill laughs at the "oohs" and "aahs" I make when I see pretty trees. Next time I am asking Jill to drive so I can stare at the trees.

I also learned that Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Fallingwater house is in this area. So that's another road trip we'll have to make.