UFOs in the Library Basement
Dexter, Michigan was Goin' Up on a Tuesday! A packed house, new witness testimony, and a stellar presentation from author and UFO researcher Ray Szymanski.
If you want to hear someone talk about UFOs at 6:30pm on a Tuesday night in the basement of a library, you’d better get there early.
That was the case in Dexter, Michigan last night when author and UFO researcher Raymond Szymanski presented to a sold-out, standing-room-only crowd of over 250 engaged attendees. (The venue was so popular that the library reached out to everyone who had signed up early to confirm their attendance just in case they could reassign their seats to those on the waiting list.) Szymanski was in town to discuss the famous 1966 Dexter UFO event—a series of sightings that spawned the most dubious and laughable UFO explanation in history: “swamp gas.”
(Here is the briefest of primers to the Dexter UFO case for those unfamiliar with the incident.)
Prior to Szymanski’s presentation, the air was filled with the voices of people sharing anecdotes about the decades-old sightings that took place around the corner:
“The lights were red and white…”
“My mother made us come outside to catch a glimpse…”
“I was too young to remember it at the time, but my Uncle saw it…”
Promptly at 6:30, the lights dimmed and Ray kicked things off with a historical summary of the UFO question from 1947 through today. He showcased a handful of well-known incidents while illustrating the government’s consistent pattern of deceit along the way.
The attendees were overwhelmingly “local” and not the usual group of “UFO people.” When Szymanski asked the audience how many knew who abductee Travis Walton was, less than ten hands went up.
After setting the table, Ray played to the crowd by diving deep into the incident that occurred just down the road. While hometown hits like “swamp gas” and “Hynek” got the obligatory reactions from the fans, the highlight of the evening was when Szymanski played a previously unreleased audio recording from a witness to the Dexter UFO: Mrs. Connie Bell.
On that fateful night in 1966, Connie and her sister-in-law had an up-close-and-personal experience with the mysterious object seen hovering around town. Her testimony stole the show. You could hear a pin drop in that library basement as she outlined the series of events that led her to the top of Peach Mountain (which is barely even a hill, according to locals).
When describing the object itself, Connie sounded decisive and confident. “We know what we saw. Ain’t no one gonna tell us different.”
She’s sure it wasn’t a helicopter. It was silent, football-shaped, and huge. She distinctly remembered the intense, flashing lights, but insists it was a solid object—not a ball of ignited gas. It appeared black and metallic. Connie got a good long look at the thing before it changed positions and moved toward where she and her sister-in-law were standing. That was enough for Connie, who suggested that they “get the hell outta there.”
Unlike Roswell, Kecksburg, or Exeter—small towns that have embraced their UFO legacy and heritage with annual festivals and celebrations—Dexter doesn’t overtly advertise the fact that they were the scene of one of the most famous UFO dust-ups in history. That doesn’t mean the community doesn’t view the event and its fallout as a source of local pride. The friendly mob present in the library basement last night made that point exceedingly clear.
We always stay for the Q&A portion of these things if not purely for the entertainment value. The audience didn’t disappoint. Some questions were poignant and relevant. Others, not so much.
One man asked what the government stood to gain by covering up UFOs for 75-years and wondered why they were feigning Disclosure now. A softball for Ray who explained that the feds had no idea what’s been skirting the skies for decades, so instead of admitting ignorance, they set off on a campaign to discredit and discourage. This has *seemingly* changed in recent years due to the release of new military UFO footage and pressure from congress.
A gentleman seated near the back stood up and demanded to know what records/evidence Ray had from official channels to back up his assertions about the things buzzing around Southeast Michigan in 1966. Ray explained that some records exist to support the story, but when it comes to military UFO encounters, the paperwork often goes missing or unfiled. This is why preserving eyewitness testimony is so important.
Someone else asked if the saucers might have been USOs (Unidentified Submerged Objects) originating from the depths of Lake Michigan.
One local injected a bit of levity into the session by addressing the elephant in the room: “I’ve been all over the Peach Mountain area and I have just one question—where’s this swamp?” Chuckles and murmurs of assent rippled through the crowd.
The final questioner asked Ray what he knew about the interdimensional orbs that are frequently spotted in the vicinity of UFOs. Ray coyly replied that he had just returned from said dimension and his findings would be revealed in a future presentation.
In typical Mr. Nice Guy fashion (Szymanski is always smiling and quick with a joke), everyone was invited to join him across the street at the local watering hole to share stories over a cold brew.
Ray did get booed one time. In fact, the crowd almost turned on him when he admitted that he sometimes roots for Ohio State University (arch-rival of the University of Michigan, located less than 10 miles from Dexter). His plea of “I root for OSU in every game but one!” fell on deaf ears.
Other than this minor faux pas, Mr. Szymanski delivered a stellar presentation, He kept a large audience of “non UFO people” engaged and in their seats for over 90 minutes while talking about UFOs. It’s a safe bet that he’s welcome back to ‘Swamp Gas Central’ any day of the week.
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I will never forget Hynek's infamous 'swamp gas' comment. Even though I was only a kid at the time, I laughed out loud.
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