The identity of the boy whose story inspired the 1973 horror classic "The Exorcist" was revealed recently.  

The book-turned-script was based on real events. The boy who inspired the story was only ever known as either "Roland Doe" or "Robbie Manheim," which are both pseudonyms.

The magazine, Skeptical Inquirer, identified the then 14-year-old boy, as Ronald Edwin Hunkeler. In 1949, Hunkeler underwent exorcisms in Cottage City, Maryland, and St Louis, Missouri. 

Ronald Edwin Hunkeler. Photo: Collected

Ronald Edwin Hunkeler died last year, after suffering a stroke at his home in Marriottsville, Maryland.

Hunkeler was a NASA engineer whose work contributed to the Apollo space missions of the 1960s and who patented a technology that helped space shuttle panels withstand extreme heat.

According to a 29-year companion of Hunkeler, he was always worried that his colleagues at NASA would find out that he was the inspiration for "The Exorcist." Hunkeler retired from NASA in 2001 after nearly 40 years with the space agency.

Hunkeler was born in 1935 and grew up in a middle-class family in Cottage City. He was 14 when he heard knocking and scratching sounds coming from his bedroom walls. Objects seemingly flew across the room, and his bed somehow moved on its own.

"The Exorcist" — both the movie and the 1971 novel it is based on — was written by William Peter Blatty, who first heard about the demonic possession of a 14-year-old boy around 1949. The story is based on a boy, who is believed to be under demonic possession, but is saved through a series of exorcisms.