Weymouth, MassachusettsJune 1963

On the night of June 25-26, 1963, two separate incidents were reported in the Weymouth area of Massachusetts. One involved a photograph taken by newspaper reporter Richard Pothier, and the other was a visual sighting by a local couple.

Pothier was taking time-exposure photographs of stars from his backyard in Wollaston when his camera captured an unexpected pattern of lights on the film. He used a Pentax 35mm camera with a wide-open lens, set for infinity focus, and Kodachrome X film. When he developed the photographs two weeks later, he found an image showing lights that appeared to move into the camera's view, hover in at least ten spots, maneuver, and then leave. The lights were colored orange, white, and silver, and their movements left bright tracks on the color slide. Pothier was certain he had not seen anything with his naked eye and had taken precautions to avoid accidental exposure from nearby car headlights.

The photograph attracted significant attention. The Boston University Observatory director, Dr. Gerald Hawkins, examined it and said he "would hesitate to say the photograph does show a flying saucer, although I admit it is very difficult to explain the photograph." He noted that if a solid object had been present, it should have blocked some of the star trails visible in the time exposure, yet none were obscured. However, photo analyst John Hopf from the civilian UFO research group APRO disagreed, arguing that the image was genuinely captured by a light source and that an object could briefly pass in front of stars during a thirty-minute exposure without visibly blocking the trails.

The second sighting came from Mr. and Mrs. Enrico Gilberti of East Weymouth. Around 1 a.m. on June 26, they awoke to a loud humming or roaring sound. Looking out their bedroom window, they saw an object about 100 feet above the ground, hovering near high-tension wires behind their house. The craft was described as very large, bigger than a truck, with a brilliant orange light on the bottom and a white light of equal brightness on top. Its shape resembled two flying saucers inverted toward each other, with a protruding lip around the middle. The lights were shaped like Turkish fez hats. The object flew smoothly and very low, almost above the treetops, and made a deafening roar. Mrs. Gilberti was so frightened she hid under the covers, while Mr. Gilberti watched for approximately one minute as the object moved slowly across the field and disappeared. He estimated the object was about 300 feet away. The couple called the Naval Air Station at South Weymouth around 8:30 a.m. to report the sighting.

The Air Force investigation noted that the general pattern of the visual sighting, lights on top and bottom, low altitude, slow movement, was consistent with a conventional aircraft observation. The case file indicates the Air Force evaluator believed the sighting could be explained as a normal aircraft, particularly given that the witnesses were just waking up and the description came only from one sleepy observer. Regarding the photograph, the Air Force stated it could not evaluate the image without obtaining copies from Pothier. Although the Air Force requested the photograph for analysis in July 1963, no reply was received after more than four months, and without the actual photograph the Air Force concluded there was insufficient data for evaluation.

The full case file, consisting of 20 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.