Ann Arbor Swamp Gas Controversy 1966

In March 1966, a wave of UAP sightings swept through Washtenaw and Hillsdale counties in Michigan involving over 100 witnesses including police officers, college students, and a Dexter farmer named Frank Mannor. Objects were observed at low altitude over swampy areas for several consecutive nights. Project Blue Book sent Dr. J. Allen Hynek to investigate. Under pressure to provide a quick explanation, Hynek announced the sightings were likely caused by 'swamp gas' from decomposing vegetation — an explanation immediately ridiculed by the media and the public, and furiously rejected by witnesses. The resulting national outrage was so significant that Representative Gerald Ford (R-MI) — future US President — wrote a letter to the House Armed Services Committee demanding a full Congressional investigation into UFOs, stating 'I think there may be substance to some of these reports.' Ford's letter triggered the Congressional hearings that eventually produced the Condon Committee investigation. The Ann Arbor case thus directly caused the creation of the most significant official scientific UAP study in US history.