20–21 March 1966; Ford statements 25–28 March; hearing 5 April / T089
Michigan sightings, the swamp-gas controversy, and Gerald Ford’s demand for inquiry
Dexter / Ann Arbor and Hillsdale, Michigan; Washington, D.C.
Witness account
Reports around Dexter on 20 March and at Hillsdale on 21 March became a national controversy after Air Force consultant J. Allen Hynek proposed marsh-gas explanations for particular observations. The phrase was soon treated publicly as a dismissal of the entire wave, obscuring the fact that multiple reports and viewing conditions were involved.
Public record
Gerald Ford’s presidential-library file preserves his 25 March call for congressional investigation and 28 March letters to committee chairmen. Ford was House minority leader, not president. He criticized the handling of the reports and asked for a more credible inquiry. An April press release documents the forthcoming 5 April hearing and subsequent discussion of a university study.