Declassified Pentagon UFO Files Detail Mysterious 1947 West Rindge Incident
Summary
NHPR reconstructs a declassified fbi file on a July 7, 1947 incident in West Rindge, New Hampshire, in which small grass fires and burned metallic fragments appeared near a porch and along Route 202, three days after the nationwide “flying disc” panic began. The fragments were sent to MIT, where Dr. John W. Bunker’s team used spectrograph analysis to identify them as cast iron subjected to extreme heat, reconstructed as fragments of a hollow 8-inch cylinder. Investigators floated and largely discounted theories involving a railroad smoke-stack liner, a jet-turbine lining, V-2 missile debris (per Prof. J. Francis Reintjes), and a meteorite. The FBI’s final memo to the Bureau director planned to destroy the specimens absent instruction by August 15, 1947; NHPR could not confirm via the Boston Field Office whether that happened. The piece situates the case within New Hampshire’s broader UFO lore (Betty and Barney Hill, the Exeter incident) and concludes the fragments’ origin remains unsolved.
Key Claims
- FBI report describes Charles N. Tasker observing small burned spots on a lawn and grass fires forming a ~200-foot circle along Route 202 in West Rindge, NH, on July 7, 1947.
- MIT spectrograph analysis (led by Dr. John W. Bunker) determined the fragments were ordinary iron subjected to “terrific heat,” forming cast iron scales.
- Researchers reconstructed the fragments as likely originating from one hollow cast-iron cylinder, 8 inches in diameter and 3/16-inch thick, machine-made.
- Prof. J. Francis Reintjes (MIT) thought the fragments resembled V-2 missile lining he had seen in New Mexico, but the FBI memo called the theory inconclusive.
- White Sands Missile Range Museum specialist Jenn Jett states V-2 debris typically landed within 100 miles of White Sands, making a 2,000-mile journey to New Hampshire implausible.
- UNH physics/astronomy professor james-clemmons argues cast iron is an implausible material for rocket/space hardware and doubts the V-2 theory.
- MIT planetary scientist richard-binzel states the written accounts are “not consistent with meteorites,” since meteorites don’t arrive hot enough to spark fires.
- The FBI’s final 1947 memo ordered destruction of the specimens absent contrary instruction by August 15, 1947; the FBI Boston Field Office told NHPR in 2026 it could not locate responsive records.
- michael-panicello, MUFON’s New England regional director, called the declassified documents welcome but not necessarily “the smoking gun.”
Notable Quotes
“Little curls of smoke, which on inspection disclosed small burned spots about one and one half inches in diameter on the green lawn.” — declassified FBI report (paraphrasing Charles N. Tasker)
“I think it’s great that these documents came out; I don’t know if they are the smoking gun that we wanted them to be.” — Michael Panicello, MUFON
“There would be very little reason to make any sort of space object out of iron because its strength to weight ratio just is not as good as something like aluminum.” — James Clemmons
“Unless advised to the contrary by August 15, 1947, the Boston Office will destroy these specimens.” — FBI final memo to the Director