At approximately 2:00 a.m. on September 3, 1965, 18-year-old Norman Muscarello and two Exeter, New Hampshire police officers independently observed a large, silent disc with five sequentially flashing red lights hovering 100 feet above a field before departing at high speed; the Air Force later wrote that it could not identify the object.

Officers Eugene Bertrand and David Hunt filed separate reports consistent with Muscarello's account. After the Air Force offered explanations involving stars and military exercises, both officers wrote directly to Project Blue Book disputing the conclusion. Lt. Col. John Spaulding of the Air Force replied in January 1966 acknowledging the object remained unidentified.