Route 202 as it runs through the town of Rindge, N.H.
MARA HOPLAMAZIAN / NHPR
The examination
The first step in studying the metallic fragments was to identify what they were made of. Using a spectrograph, which studies light waves to determine the material composition of objects, scientists at MIT found that the metallic fragments were ordinary iron that had been “subjected to terrific heat,” causing scales to form and thus creating cast iron.
(Image Credit: US Declassified Pentagon Files)
Alien theories emerge
Investigators scrambled for answers thinking could it be debris from a passing train? However, further testing ruled that out. What about an aircraft? Some experts speculated the fragments might have come from a jet engine component. Others pushed back, arguing that anything falling from high altitude would have cooled long before reaching the ground.
Then came a more unsettling theory, what if it were fragments from early rocket experiments. One MIT professor even noted similarities to V-2 missile components tested in the aftermath of World War II, but the numbers didn’t add up. Those rockets were launched thousands of miles away, and their materials didn’t match the cast iron composition found in West Rindge.
“Flying discs” and rising panic
Just weeks earlier, America had been gripped by its first wave of UFO sightings, what the press dubbed “flying saucers.” Handwritten notes in the FBI memos even referenced “FLYING DISCS,” hinting at the growing speculation. Was this West Rindge incident just a coincidence, or something more? Modern experts remain divided.
Some, like UFO researcher Mutual UFO Network representatives, believe the fragments could still be linked to extraterrestrial activity, though they stop short of calling it proof. Others, including physicists, dismiss both rocket and alien theories, pointing out that cast iron is an unusual material for advanced technology. Meteorites theory also falters, as such objects don’t land hot enough to start fires.
(Image Credit: US Declassified Pentagon Files)
Where did the iron fragments come from?
Given that Tasker found the metal pieces in the grass about 700 feet from a railroad track, the researchers hypothesized that the fragments could be from the liner of a smokestack or another part of a steam engine. However, further testing ruled out that theory.
If not a train . . . then a plane?
One metallurgist at MIT speculated that the fragments could be the lining from a jet turbo plane.
But another scientist was unsure the fragments were from an airplane because if they came from something at high altitude, most of the heat would have dissipated by the time they reached the ground, meaning they wouldn’t have been able to start the fires in the grass that Tasker observed.
And yet, if the iron fragments had originally been part of a larger object that fell a great height, this large iron object could have retained enough heat to start a fire, and probably would have smashed into smaller pieces upon striking the ground.
The scientists attempted to reconstruct this hypothetical larger object from the metallic fragments, finding that they had most likely been part of a single hollow cylinder that was 8 inches in diameter, 3/16 of an inch thick, and made using machinery.
Professor J. Francis Reintjes, an assistant professor in electrical engineering at MIT (referred to as “Rentges” in the reports), thought the metallic fragments looked similar to the lining of V-2 missiles he had observed in New Mexico.
In the late 1940s, the US had been adapting and testing the V-2 missiles designed by Nazi Germany in World War II to study space and the Earth’s atmosphere. The MIT scientists thought that cast-iron cylinders of that size had been used during the research. However, the theory wasn’t definitive enough to “conclude to the exclusion of all other possibilities,” according to the final memo written to the director of the FBI.
A point for intelligent life beyond Earth?
Even 80 years ago, extraterrestrial theories floated around.
The American UFO craze had begun on June 24, 1947, when the first “flying saucer” observation was made in the Pacific Northwest. By June 25, the press had picked up an amateur pilot’s report of some “unidentified flying object” that was then referred to as both a “flying saucer” and “flying disk.”
The incident report in West Rindge is from just a few weeks later in July, with the memos to the director of the FBI from later that month. In those memos, there are several handwritten notes, with “FLYING DISCS” written on both.
But how does this theory hold up today?
“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,” said Michael Panicello, the New England regional director of the Mutual UFO Network.
Panicello, like the scientist Reintjes at MIT, wondered if the metal was space debris from the V-2 rocket research happening in New Mexico.
But Panicello said this doesn’t rule out the possibility that the fragments could be a sign of extraterrestrial life.
“I’m not trying to be a debunker. I’m definitely not. I believe in aliens,” Panicello said. “But . . . it’s kind of hard to jump right to the UFO alien connection when you can’t truly rule out man-made objects.”
Fragments of a rocket?
At least one scientist thinks it is unlikely the fragments came from man-made rockets or objects launched into space, simply because of the material of which they are made.
“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, which is practically what all spacecraft are primarily made out of these days,” said James Clemmons, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of New Hampshire.
Clemmons also found it peculiar that these metal fragments were made of cast iron, as it is not considered very strong.
“To me, cast iron is a very crude thing, and the idea that crude things go into space purposefully is also kind of odd,” Clemmons said.
The V-2 launches took place at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Jenn Jett, a Museum Specialist at the White Sands Missile Range Museum in New Mexico, said via email that “V-2s being launched at White Sands typically landed within the White Sands boundary within a distance of 100 miles,” with the rare exception of landings in other parts of New Mexico and Juarez, Mexico.
Considering New Hampshire is over 2,000 miles from New Mexico, it would appear there is no way for any rocket debris to get anywhere close.
Furthermore, V-2 rockets were made primarily of steel. While steel’s main ingredient is, in fact, iron, the initial scientists determined the metal was cast iron, which Clemmons said is very different.
“I would expect that the MIT scientists could distinguish between steel and iron,” Clemmons said.
So if these metal fragments are not from the classified V-2 rockets, nor from the nearby railroad, what could they be?
Might it be a meteorite?
According to NASA, more than 50,000 meteorites have been found on Earth. While most meteorites are stony, metal meteorites made of iron do occasionally reach the ground.
However, Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary science at MIT, said the written accounts were “not consistent with meteorites.”
“(Meteorites) do not arrive ‘hot’ when they land and would not spark a fire,” Binzel said. “While there are iron meteorites, their metal composition is distinctive, and the early analysis would have immediately declared the fragments as meteorites.”
Where are the fragments now?
The final memo to the director of the FBI in the recently released files stated that “unless advised to the contrary by August 15, 1947, the Boston Office will destroy these specimens. In the interim they will be transmitted to the Bureau on specific Bureau instructions.”
NHPR contacted the Boston Field Office of the FBI to confirm whether the metal fragments had been destroyed. In response, the Boston Field Office said, “At this point in time, we haven’t been able to locate any records responsive to your request.”
This isn’t New Hampshire’s only potential connection with extraterrestrials. In 1961, Portsmouth, N.H., residents Betty and Barney Hill famously had one of the first alleged UFO abduction encounters in the country, and Exeter, N.H., has an annual UFO festival revolving around a famed 1965 incident nearby.
As for the mystery metal from West Rindge, theories about rocket debris and meteorites have come up short of solid evidence. For now, no one can conclusively determine the origins of the cast-iron fragments near Route 202. This unidentified anomalous phenomenon remains a mystery.
Perhaps the most unsettling detail of all is what happened next. According to official memos, the fragments were scheduled for destruction in August 1947, unless further instructions were given. Today, no confirmed record of the material exists, even inquiries to the FBI have turned up nothing.
Nearly 80 years later, the West Rindge incident remains unsolved.
- These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.
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