Ray Szymanski examines the 1966 UFO incident in Dexter at the Dexter District Library

The investigator turned author spoke to a packed audience about the mysteries of UFOs.

Photo: Author and UFOlogist Ray Szymanski signs books after his presentation at the Dexter District Library on August 20, 2024. Photo by Doug Marrin

Ray Szymanski, a renowned UFO researcher and author, captivated a packed house at the Dexter District Library with his riveting lecture on the 1966 UFO sightings in Dexter. All 250 seats were filled, and the rest of the audience stood at the sidelines during the hour-long lecture.

Szymanski, who spent nearly four decades at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, has earned a reputation for his meticulous investigation of the UFO phenomenon. His previous works, including “Swamp Gas My Ass,” “50 Shades of Grey” and “Victoria's Secret Truth,” have explored some of the most puzzling UFO cases and made him a sought-after speaker on the subject.

Szymanski began his presentation by describing his background and his entry into UFO research, which was initially driven by curiosity rather than belief in extraterrestrial life. He recounted his experiences at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where he first heard stories about the Roswell crash and other UFO-related incidents. His search for the truth led him to investigate numerous cases, culminating in the books that made him a prominent figure in the field.

After a brief overview of several notable UFO sightings and the Air Force's flimsy explanations, which he effortlessly refuted, Szymanski shifted the focus to the centerpiece of his presentation: the Dexter UFO sightings of 1966. He provided context by discussing the broader wave of UFO sightings in the mid-1960s and highlighting how southeast Michigan, particularly Dexter, became a focal point for these mysterious events.

Talking about UFO (now Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) experiences, government cover-ups, ridiculing eyewitnesses, and the eventual exposure of these incidents is a difficult subject. Nevertheless, Szymanski kept the atmosphere light-hearted with humor and a cheerful tone. At the end of his presentation, he joked with the audience by putting on his Men in Black sport coat and holding up the iconic neuralyzer from the film. He flashed his light and announced to the audience's laughter, “They were never here!”

The crowd listened raptly as Szymanski described the events of March 20, 1966, when Dexter residents Frank Manor and his son Ronald noticed a strange light on their property. What began as a strange observation quickly developed into a momentous event as they approached the light and realized they were in the presence of a mysterious object.

“Frank Manor and his son got within 300 feet of the object,” Szymanski told the audience. “They described it as flat on the bottom with a cone on top. Frank even mentioned that it looked like it was stitched together like cardboard. That's how close they got.”

The Manor family was not alone in their encounter. According to Szymanski, several police officers from different jurisdictions also noticed the lights on Manor's property. “Before the night was over, 12 police officers ran all over Frank Manor's property with flashlights, tracking these lights,” Szymanski said, emphasizing the credibility of the witnesses involved. Those officers later filed official reports detailing what they saw over a five-hour period.

But it wasn't just the Manor property that was busy that night. Szymanski explained that Patrolman Honeywell, who was stationed at Brand & Quigley, had observed a similar phenomenon. “Honeywell saw an object hovering over his car for 10 to 15 minutes. Then three more objects appeared, hovered for a while, and all flew away together,” Szymanski said. The story eerily matched the Manor sighting and deepened the mystery.

One of the most compelling pieces of evidence Szymanski presented came from an interview he conducted with Connie Bell, who was near Peach Mountain the night of the sightings. Bell's statement, recorded by Szymanski, described a close encounter with a UFO that had red and white flashing lights. “It totally freaked me out,” Bell said in the recording. “Its maneuverability was amazing. It made no noise at all.”

In the nearly seven-minute recording of Connie's gripping story, she added: “And even though they tried to say it was swamp gas, I knew they were talking bullshit… It's like discrediting you. Basically, they're trying to make you feel like you're delusional… I knew in my head that I wasn't crazy anymore. I know what I saw.”

During a press conference in Detroit, Szymanski then addressed the infamous “swamp gas” explanation, a term coined by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a consultant to the Air Force's Project Blue Book. Hynek's claim that the sightings in Dexter and nearby Hillsdale were caused by swamp gas was met with widespread skepticism and, as Szymanski pointed out, anger from the local population and even President Ford.

“The government has lied to the American people about flying saucers for 75 years,” Szymanski claimed, citing the confession of a former Air Force consultant who admitted to refuting UFO sightings as part of a deliberate cover-up. Szymanski's research, particularly his interviews with Colonel Gary Kent Carroll, an F-106 pilot who was dispatched to intercept a UFO in March 1966, provided further evidence of the government's cover-up tactics. “Colonel Carroll kept this secret for 55 years, but before he died he wanted the truth to come out,” Szymanski said. Carroll described in detail how the UFO made an impossible right-angle turn at high speed, thus evading their pursuit.

The evening ended with Szymanski's passionate plea for transparency and his determination to continue uncovering the truth about UFOs. “The Dexter UFO incident was real,” he told the audience, “and the government's swamp gas explanation was nothing more than a cover-up.”

As the event drew to a close, Szymanski stayed to sign copies of his books and chat with those in attendance. The Dexter UFO incident remains one of the most fascinating cases in Michigan history, and thanks to Szymanski's dedication, the story continues to captivate and challenge our understanding of the unknown.

For those of you who missed Szymanski's presentation or would like to hear more from the author, he will be speaking in Taylor, Michigan on October 19.