I replied to the tweet in this way: "If you fully research the incident you find Hynek was spot on to say swamp gas may have been the cause. He was NOT wrong!" and then I wrote the aforementioned blog post in which I took the tweeter to task for repeating old news in a way that created an inaccurate picture if Hynek actions and intentions.
The person behind the twitter account responded to me the next day, saying: "May I ask what sources you used to research the incident? Because what I've seen doesn't point anywhere near swamp gas."
Fair enough. I could have easily replied to the request with a whole lot information. What sources did I use? Well, what sources didn't I use? Turns out, Dexter-Hillsdale is one of the most exhaustively documented UFO incidents in history, so there's no end of information available, if you care to look.
Before I could reply, however, I saw that the tweeter had sent me a follow-up message: "Never mind, I read your polemic blog post, and I needless to say I disagree (sic). I find no compelling reasons to 'revere' Hynek."
Well, you win some, you lose some. This person obviously does not share my high regard for Dr. Hynek, and that's ok... Except that, again, this person's dislike seems to be based on information that is entirely inaccurate.
Funny thing is, before I started my research, I agreed with this tweeter. I believed the story that Hynek had deliberately tried to mislead the public at the Air Force's request, and had as a result made a complete boob of himself. But then I researched the incident and found that it's just not true.
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This is one witness' depiction of the Dexter-Hillsdale UFO. Unfortunately, pretty much everyone else Hynek interviewed saw something different... |
Marsh gas. Which is another term for swamp gas.
One of the most credible witnesses of the event told Dr. Hynek that he thought he was looking at swamp gas. Dr. Hynek said at a press conference two days later that it was possible, perhaps even likely, that the witnesses were observing swamp gas, although he couldn't prove that in a court of law. And the press and the public attacked him. The guy who first suggested the swamp gas theory--Mr. Civil Defense himself-- attacked Hynek--over and over again! And, sadly, some people are still repeating the same erroneous claims.
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