In December 1977 a glowing red object descended over a park in Council Bluffs, Iowa, igniting a grass fire and leaving behind a heavy, cooling slab of unusual metal that formed blue crystals as it solidified.
Firefighters and police recovered the half-ton alloy, which was later analyzed by researchers including Jacques Vallée and Dr. Gary Nolan; mass spectrometry showed a purified mix of metals not easily explained by natural meteors or conventional debris.
The episode explores the eyewitness accounts, scientific testing, and competing theories — from satellite or military debris to exotic explanations like jettisoned material from an unknown craft — and why the case remains debated today.
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