Boy Whose Story Inspired ‘The Exorcist’ Grew Up to Play Key Role in First Moon Landing

The 1973 film “The Exorcist” is one of the scariest films to date. The gruesome visual effects and creepy background music still petrify viewers today. Many may not know that the film, as well as the 1971 book of the same name, are based on a true story. A shocking investigation conducted a few years ago revealed that the person who inspired this film was Ronald Edwin Hunkeler. In addition to being known for being possessed by a demon as a teenager, Hunkeler turned out to be a NASA engineer, reports The Guardian.

Hunkeler was a crucial resource who contributed significantly to the Apollo missions in the 1960s. Without his patented technology that made the space shuttle panels resistant to extreme heat, our glorious astronauts would not have walked on the moon in 1969. Although he was a vital engineer, Hunkeler’s dark past was never known to his colleagues. This is because whenever his exorcism case was mentioned, the pseudonyms “Roland Doe” or “Robbie Mannheim” were used to refer to Hunkeler. With the exception of the Jesuit community who knew the priests involved in Hunkeler’s exorcism and a few academics and journalists who studied his case, his identity remained a closely guarded secret until his death.

Author William Peter Blatty, who wrote the novel “The Exorcist,” heard the story when he was a senior at Georgetown University. He heard it from his professor, Eugene Gallager, who was also a priest at the Jesuit college. Gallager told Blatty the story of a 14-year-old boy who was allegedly possessed by a demon in 1949. According to the story, Hunkeler, a native of Cottage City, Maryland, began having paranormal experiences at age 14. Flying objects, strange noises, and beds that shook like in the movie—all of these were allegedly part of Hunkeler’s experiences.

Before contacting the priests, Hunkeler’s family had consulted several medical professionals, including psychologists. When they saw no improvement, the family sought help from a Jesuit priest, Father William Bowdern, who was credited with finally freeing Hunkeler from demonic possession. Accompanied by three other priests, Father Bowdern spent two months and more than 20 exorcisms helping Hunkeler. His exorcism was considered “one of the most remarkable experiments of its kind in recent religious history,” according to a 1949 Washington Post article. But as an adult, Hunkeler didn’t want his friends and colleagues at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to know about his frightening past. In 2001, after four decades of service as an engineer, Hunkeler retired from the federal space agency.

“On Halloween, we would always leave the house because he thought someone would come to his house and find out where he lived and never leave him alone. He had a terrible life because of the worry, the worry, the worry,” one of Hunkler’s companions, who wished to remain anonymous, told the New York Post. On the other hand, Hunkeler never believed he was possessed. “He said he wasn’t possessed, that it was all made up. He said, ‘I was just a bad boy,’” the companion said. But in 2020, just before Hunkeler died, a Catholic priest — who wasn’t called — showed up by chance and performed his last rites. “I have no idea how Father knew to come, but he brought Ron to heaven. Ron is in heaven and he’s with God now,” the companion said.