Boy whose story inspired ‘The Exorcist’ grew up to play a key role in the first moon landing

The 1973 film "The Exorcist" is one of the scariest movies to date. The gruesome visual effects and chilling background music still petrify viewers today. Many might not know that the movie, as well as the 1971 book of the same name, was based on a true incident. A shocking investigation from a couple of years ago revealed the person who inspired this film was Ronald Edwin Hunkeler. Apart from being known to reportedly have been demon-possessed when he was a teen, Hunkeler turned out to be a  NASA engineer, reports The Guardian.

Hunkeler was a crucial resource who contributed significantly to the Apollo missions during the 1960s. Without his patented technology that made space shuttle panels resistant to extreme heat, our glorious astronauts wouldn't have stepped on the moon in 1969. Despite being a vital engineer, Hunkeler's dark past was never known to his colleagues. It was because whenever his exorcism case was mentioned the pseudonyms "Roland Doe" or "Robbie Mannheim" were used to refer to Hunkeler. Except for the community of Jesuits who knew the priests involved in Hunkeler's exorcism and a few academics and reporters who studied his case, his identity was a well-maintained secret until his death. 

Author William Peter Blatty who wrote "The Exorcist" novel came to know about 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 about a 14-year-old boy who was supposedly possessed by a demon in 1949. As the story goes, Hunkeler who was originally from Cottage City, Maryland, started having paranormal experiences when he turned 14. Flying objects, weird noises and shaking beds like in the movie - it was all said to be a part of Hunkeler's experiences.

Before reaching out to the priests, Hunkeler's family had consulted several medical professionals including psychologists. After finding no improvement, the family sought help from a Jesuit priest, Father William Bowdern, who was known to finally free Hunkeler of the demonic possession. Accompanied by three other priests, Father Bowdern took two months and over 20 exorcisms to help Hunkeler. His exorcism was considered "one of the most remarkable experiences of its kind in recent religious history," per a 1949 article in the Washington Post. But once he grew up, Hunkeler didn't want his friends and colleagues at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to know about his scary past. In 2001, after four decades of serving as an engineer, Hunkeler retired from the federal space agency.

"On Halloween, we always left the house because he figured someone would come to his residence and know where he lived and never let him have peace. He had a terrible life from worry, worry, worry," one of Hunkler's companions, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the New York Post. On the other hand, Hunkeler never believed that he was possessed. "He said he wasn’t possessed, it was all concocted. He said, ‘I was just a bad boy,'" the companion stated. But in 2020, right before Hunkeler's death, a Catholic priest—who was not called for—showed up randomly and performed his last rites. "I have no idea how the Father knew to come but he got Ron to heaven. Ron’s in heaven and he’s with God now," the companion said.