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Levelland UFO case

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UFO over Levelland in Texas

One of the most famous and mysterious cases of close contact with a second-degree UFO occurred in 1957 in Levelland, Texas. In those days, there were at least eight well-documented reports of the same UFO, and seven more unconfirmed-they were received from persons whose identities could not be established until our time.

UFO incident in Levelland (USA)

After the UFO incident in Levelland, a sufficient number of eyewitness reports were received. Many of them were sure that they were doing the right thing by reporting what they saw, but later most of them regretted their decision due to further numerous ridicule. Among the witnesses – quite authoritative sources, for example-city police officers. All of them witnessed the fantastic events that took place on November 2, 1957, in a town with a population of about 10,000 people.

UFO sightings

Timeline of events

To clearly understand the essence of what happened, we invite the reader to read a detailed chronology of the events of that day:

23:00. Only one hour has passed since the USSR launched its second satellite into space and literally the whole of America was discussing it. It was after this that a series of mysterious events began near the town of Levelland.

A local police officer, Patrolman Fowler, was at the station, working on the paperwork. In that hour, he received the first of 15 "strange" calls that he and his colleagues will remember for the rest of their lives.

About 4 miles west of the city, two comrades – Pedro Neighbor and Joe Salaz were driving in Pedro's car when they noticed a brightly lit cigar-shaped object moving in their direction in the sky. When the object flew very close to them, the engine of Pedro's car began to stall, and the headlights completely stopped working. After a few seconds, the car stopped completely.

Later, Pedro would say during interviews that he thought the object was about 200 feet long. Police officer Fowler, who interviewed the two friends, was sure they were drunk.

23:45. Fowler receives a second call from a citizen who introduced himself as Mr. V. He reported that while driving near the town of Viterol, 4 miles east of Levelland, he noticed a brightly lit egg-shaped object that was right on the sidewalk by the road. His car stalled, and the headlights stopped shining, similar to the first case. Frightened, this man decided to leave his car and hid, continuing to observe the object. It took quite a bit of time and the UFO, without making a single sound, rose into the air to a height of about 200 feet and flew away. Mr. V's car. it started working again, and he ran to the nearest phone to call the police.

12:00 the next day. Fowler gets the third call, this time from a man who was driving 11 miles north of Levelland. During the trip, he suddenly noticed an unusual aircraft that landed right on the road. His car also stalled, and he sat in it, watching the UFO for a while until it rose into the air and disappeared. Similar to other reports, after the object disappeared, the car started working again and the man left the scene, driving to the nearest police station to report the incident.

12:10 the next day. A nineteen-year-old freshman from the University of Texas, Newel Wright, was driving 9 miles east of Leaveland when his car's engine began to malfunction and the headlights stopped shining. He stopped the car and decided to check the equipment by opening the hood. Suddenly, next to the car, the student noticed a bright object on the sidewalk right in front of him. He estimated its size at 125 feet long and emphasized that it was bluish-green in color. Also, the student said that the UFO, as it seemed to him, was made of a material resembling aluminum.

Frightened, the guy tried to start his car, but his attempt was unsuccessful. As he remained in the car, he hoped that another car would pass by and someone would help him leave the place. But no one was driving. After a while, the object silently rose into the sky and disappeared. Afraid to tell anyone about what he saw, he went home and waited for his parents to arrive to share his experiences with them. When they returned from their trip, they listened to their son and demanded that he report it to the police. His statement to the Sheriff's office in Leaveland was later included in the reports of the USAF Blue Book Project.

Part of the Air Force Investigator's report on the Blue Book Project»

Part of the Air Force Investigator's report on the Blue Book Project

12:15. Officer Fowler gets another call. This time from a man calling from a phone booth near Viterol, who was driving a car 9 miles north of Leaveland. He said that during his trip, he encountered an unknown object on the road, which blocked his path. Just like in other cases, his car started working again only after the object flew away. After this call, Fowler decided to contact other police officers on patrol in the area and find out if they saw anything strange. During the next few minutes, two officers from different areas reported on the radio that they had observed 2 different objects with an extremely bright glow, but had not yet encountered engine problems.

12:45 the next day. There is a message from a man who was driving very close to the place where the UFO was first noticed. He said that he saw an orange ball on the road, which was approaching his car. Another interesting fact is also connected with this message: the driver reported that as soon as the UFO landed, the glow of its body changed from orange to bluish-green. After the UFO landed, the engine of his truck also stalled. After waiting for the object to leave the road, the driver left the scene and filed a police report only the next day.

01:30 am. Fowler received the first report of surveillance of the object by two law enforcement officers. Sheriff Clem and Deputy McCullough spotted a large glowing object flying over the highway. The officers tried to chase the UFO. They were 4-5 miles from Leaveland when they spotted the object. Both officers later said that it looked like a glowing red sun and, flying over the road, illuminated it as a huge light source.

UFO in Levelland: military explanations and further controversy

UFO sightings in Leaveland became widely discussed by the public and were later investigated as part of the project " Blue Book "(the project was started in 1947, bringing under its wing a group of specialists from a number of employees of the US Air Force, who were to investigate all cases involving UFOs). One of the participants in the project — an Air Force sergeant-was sent to Levelland, where he spent seven hours as part of the investigation of the incident.

After interviewing three eyewitnesses – Saucedo, Wheeler, and student Wright, the investigator came to the following conclusions: since there was a serious thunderstorm in the area that day, the military assumed that the phenomenon was ordinary ball lightning. This natural phenomenon could have caused the engine to fail.

A local newspaper article about the incident in Levelland

A local newspaper article about the incident in Levelland

However, not everyone agreed with this explanation. Critics of the Air Force's arguments noted that the investigator did not interview six other witnesses, and their testimony was not included in the final Blue Book report.

In the years that followed, two prominent ufologists-Dr. James E. McDonald, a physicist at the University of Arizona, and Dr. J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer at Northwestern University and the lead scientific consultant for the Blue Book Project-also challenged the Air Force's version of ball lightning. Both scientists claimed that there was no ball lightning in the area that day. Eyewitnesses of the event reported that the weather that day was overcast and foggy, but they did not remember any lightning.

The scientists also admitted that they have no evidence that ball lightning can stop cars or cause failures in the lighting and electronics of the car. In 1999, UFO researcher Antonio Ralen published a detailed analysis of observations in Livonia. After reviewing various weather service records and the opinions of Air Force personnel, Dr. MacDonald concluded that " ... in fact, there was no severe thunderstorm at the time of the observations in Leaveland ... there may have been a few clouds over Leaveland, but the nearest weather station in Lubbock told me that there wasn't even any rain that day..."

Press reaction

During that night, Fowler received more than 15 calls with reports of UFOs. He also indicated in his report that some of them were seriously frightened. The number of witnesses and the details of their testimony summed up the police officer's conclusions: the events took place about 2.5 hours near the outskirts of the city of Levelland from all directions. The day after these events, journalists from all over the country gathered in the town of Levelland. They demanded an explanation from the Air Force – what exactly happened near the city. But the military declined to comment on the incident, telling reporters that they believe the phenomenon is just an ordinary ball lightning.

The UFO incident in Levelland is still considered unsolved.

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