Levelland Sightings Of 1957 by Antonio Rullán: Searching for Patterns

The seven witnesses who reported vehicle interference told their stories to different people via different mechanisms. As a result, the seven stories vary in depth of information, accuracy, and quality. In order to minimize error in the analysis, we limited sources of information to those reports and/or newspapers that had access to the key witnesses. For example, newspaper references were limited to the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, Levelland Daily Sun News, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram because we know their reporters actually interviewed key witnesses (Pedro Saucedo, Newell Wright, Ronald Martin) and key participants in the event (A.J. Fowler, Weir Clem). Part of the witnesses' stories were retrieved from other newspapers when more details were available in those papers but missing in the Lubbock/Levelland/Fort Worth papers. However, out of town newspapers (with the exception of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram) that were not quoting the Associated Press wires from Levelland, tended not be as accurate as the Lubbock and Levelland papers. The report from the Air Force investigation was also a key source for the details of the story of Pedro Saucedo and Newell Wright.

Unfortunately, the stories of some witnesses, who just called the Levelland Police Department and talked to A.J. Fowler and were not fully interviewed by the Air Force investigator or a newspaper reporter, are lacking many details that are impossible to determine 42 years later. Even when the witnesses are still alive, the details of the story are not reliable. Thus the best we can do is analyze the best data available at the time.

Table 5 summarizes the key elements of the Levelland sighting story for the seven witnesses. The witnesses are listed in the chronological order of the sightings. Twenty-one elements of the story were tabulated ranging from time and place of sightings to details of the actual sighting. When data was not available, the table cell was left blank or indicated not reported.

Of the 21 elements shown in Table 5, ten describe the object's behavior and properties and the other eleven describe the witness, his behavior, and the source of information. The ten properties selected to describe the object sighted are shown below:

Event Duration
Shape
Size
Color
Type of Motion
Direction
Distance
Type of Vehicle Interference
Sound
Physical and Physiological Effect

Review of the descriptions given by the seven witnesses (as shown in Table 5) indicates that not one report was identical to another in all these 10 properties. The only generalization that can be made is that seven independent witnesses (while driving within a 10 miles radius of Levelland and within a 2.5-hour period) ran into a light source that shut down their car's engine and headlights. Then when the light source left the scene, the car's engine and headlights worked normally.

Table 5: Descriptions and Key Elements of the Seven Levelland Vehicle Interference Cases

Witness	Pedro Saucedo	Jim Wheeler	Jose Alvarez	Newell E. Wright	Frank D.Williams	Ronald Martin	James D. Long
Date	11/2/57	11/2/57	11/3/57	11/3/57	11/3/57	11/3/57	11/3/57
Location	On Highway 116; about 4 miles west of Levelland near the Pettit Community. Afterwards he drove towards Whiteface.	At the intersection of Highway 51 and a farm road eight miles North of Levelland or on Hwy. 116 about 4 miles East of Levelland[39]	4 miles east of Levelland near Lubbock Highway or on Route 51 near Whitharral; 10 miles north and slightly east of Levelland	9 miles East of Levelland on Route 116. One mile west of Smyer	Four miles north of Levelland at the intersection of Route 51 and a dirt road or 11 miles north of Levelland on Route 51 near Whitharral[41]	5 miles West of Levelland on Hwy. 116	5 miles Northwest of Levelland on the Oklahoma Flats farm road
Time	10:50 PM	11:50 PM or 12:00	12:00 AM	12:05 AM	12:15 AM	12:45 AM	1:15 AM or 1:30 AM
Witness Age	30	N.A.	N.A.	19	N.A.	18	N.A.
Witness Occupation	Farm Hand /part time barber/ Korean War Veteran from Levelland	Man from Levelland		Texas Tech. Freshman University student from Levelland	Man from Kermit	Truck driver from Levelland	Negro truck driver from Waco
Other Witnesses	Joe Salaz	None	None	None	None	None	None
Event Duration:	2 to 3 minutes			~ 4 minutes		~ 15 minutes
Description: UFO Shape	Torpedo shape or like a rocket	egg-shaped thing sitting on the road	Not Reported	Oval shape, flat on the bottom Shaped like a loaf of bread	object was sitting on the road	Round in shape Big ball of fire Round as a ball	Oval shaped Brilliant egg-shaped mass
UFO Size: How was it estimated?	About the size of an airplane Larger than a torpedo or rocket 200 ft long and 6 ft wide	200 ft long	Not reported	75 to 125 ft long He did not know how far object was	Not reported	As wide as the paved portion of Hwy. About the size of two cars	200 ft long
UFO Color:	Blue with yellow flame coming out of the rear and white smoke surrounding the flame	Brightly lit like neon lights. Brilliant light It was so bright it lighted up the whole area.	Not reported	White with a little greenish tint	Not reported; light was pulsating on and off	Changed color to bluish-green when it set on Hwy. Then changed to an orange fireball again when it rose straight up & disappeared.	Glowed intermittently like neon sign
UFO Action:	UFO rose up out of a field and started toward the truck picking up speed. When it got near the truck, the lights went out and motor died. Object was about 200 ft off the ground and went directly over truck.	It was just sitting there, all lit up. It was light up with neon lights.	Thing was circling cotton field, just above the ground on one of the circles, the Thing’s lights went out. It just disappeared[42]	Object rose from the ground and when witness looked through the windshield, the object was gone. Object left ground almost straight up and disappeared from view in a split instant.	Object was siting at the intersection of the Route 51 and a dirt road. When witness got out of his car, then the object rose swiftly to about 200-ft and its light went out and it disappeared.	big ball of fire dropped on the highway in front of his truck	Object was on ground on road.
Direction	Moving East to Levelland	UFO rose into sky and its light blinked out	Circling field then light went out and disappeared.	Object rose almost straight up and a little to the north, at a terrific speed. Within seconds it was out of sight. It disappeared almost instantly.	rose up and disappeared	Rose straight up and disappeared	Object rose straight up and then hovered about 200 ft in the air and then it turned its light off.
Distance to UFO: (How was it determined)	200 ft over truck			Could not determine distance to UFO		Saw big ball of fire hovering in the sky about a mile and a half ahead of him. The thing dropped down and landed on the road ahead some 300 to 400 ft away.	He got out of his car about 200 ft away to investigate but when he did, it took off with a roar straight up into sky.
Type of Vehicle Interference: (Effects on Engine, Radio and Lights)	lights on truck went out and motor died when object got near truck	Engine died and headlights went out	Engine died and headlights went out	Ammeter began jumping, then motor gradually died, then the lights and radio went out	Engine died and headlights went out. Every time the pulsating light from the UFO came on, his car light and motor would go off.[43]	Truck engine died and lights went out	When the UFO lit up, his truck stalled and the lights went out
EM Effects after UFO Left	Headlights went on by themselves and Truck started fine after Saucedo turned the key in the ignition.	When witness started to get out of his car, the UFO rose abruptly. At a height of about 200-ft, UFO lights went off, and car lights went back on.	When the Thing disappeared, the car lights went back on, and witness started the motor normally.	After object left, the car started normally	Not reported, but the fact that the witness drove on after the sighting to a payphone implies that car lights and engine went back to normal.	Truck’s headlights came back on and the truck’s engine started normally	Engine started and light came on when object got about 200 ft high.
Type of Sound Emitted by UFO:	great sound; sounded like thunder and rush of wind	No sound was Reported	No sound was Reported	No sound was Reported	sounded like thunder when it took off	No sound was Reported	Sounded like a big clap of thunder, as it settled to the ground and again as it seemed to take off. Took off with a roar
Physical and Physiological Effects	Witness felt rush of wind that rocked the truck; felt lots of Heat	None Reported	None Reported	None Reported	None Reported	None reported	None Reported
What brought attention to UFO?	First saw a flash of light in a field to the right. Then object rose up out of the field and started toward the truck pickup us speed.			Car engine and lights suddenly quit working. He got out to investigate, but could find nothing wrong. As he slammed the hood and turned around he suddenly saw the object on the Hwy. up ahead.	Object was sitting in the middle of the road ahead of him.	Driving truck on highway when suddenly a ball of fire drops on the highway in front of his truck	He saw the object resting in the middle of the highway with its light off. When he got right up to it, its light went on and his truck lights and motor went off. Other reports say that his truck stalled as he neared a bright object sitting on the road.[44]
What was the witness doing before UFO showed up?	Driving to Gerald Reding Farm near the Pettit Community			Driving back home to Levelland from Texas Tech. college in Lubbock		Driving truck towards Levelland	He had just left Levelland on a run to a destination east of town.
Who Interviewed Witness?	Officer A.J. Fowler via Phone; Officer Shelby Hall at Police Station; Bill Wilkerson (LAJ Reporter)	Witness called Levelland Police and talked to A.J. Fowler	Witness called Levelland Police and talked to A.J. Fowler	Sheriff Weir Clem; Dale Johnson (Toreador Reporter)	Witness called Levelland Police and talked to A.J. Fowler	Called Levelland Police and talked to Officer Shelby Hall; Bill Wilkerson (LAJ Reporter)	Witness called Levelland Police and talked to A.J. Fowler
Key Source of Information	Lubbock Morning Avalanche 11/4/57; Levelland AP; Air Intelligence Information Report, 11/18/57	Fort Worth Star Telegram, 11/4/57; Lubbock Morning Avalanche 11/4/57; Associated Press, Levelland, 11/4/57	Fort Worth Star Telegram, 11/4/57; Lubbock Morning Avalanche 11/4/57; Associated Press, Levelland, 11/4/57	Toreador 11/5/57 Air Intelligence Information Report, 11/18/57	Fort Worth Star Telegram, 11/4/57; Lubbock Morning Avalanche 11/4/57; Associated Press, Levelland, 11/4/57	Lubbock Morning Avalanche 11/4/57; Associated Press, Levelland, 11/4/57	Associated Press, Levelland, 11/4/57; Fort Worth Star Telegram, 11/4/57

To better compare the descriptions of the light source for each witness, we created radar diagrams using eight of the properties listed above. The duration of the event and the distance to the light were not included in the diagram because these estimates (made by the eyewitness after the event) are typically very unreliable. The eight properties selected tend to be easier to remember by the witness and are better descriptors of what was actually observed.

The criteria used to differentiate each property according to the witness' description are shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Criteria and Scale used to Differentiate Witness Description of Levelland Sighting

Criteria/Scale	Shape	Size	Color	Action	Motion	Light Changes	Sound	Physical Effects
1.00	Egg/Oval	150-200 ft	White	Hover (or Still) & Move	Vertical & Horizontal	Blinking on/off	Sound	Heat and Wind
0.75	Loaf of Bread	100-150 ft	Blue		Vertical			Heat only
0.50	Round/Ball	50-100 ft	Yellow/Orange	Move Continuously	Horizontal	Color Changes		Wind only
0.25	Torpedo	<50 ft	Red		Circular			Other
0.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Hovering or Sitting Still	Not Available	No changes Reported	No Sound Reported	None Reported

While this criterion is arbitrary, we believe it is useful for searching for patterns. The main purpose of generating radar diagrams is to see visually how similar descriptions of the sighted object are from one witness to another. Moreover, this analysis also helps to determine whether descriptions from witnesses who gave more detailed and higher quality reports were more similar to each other than descriptions from witnesses whose reports were less reliable. The metrics assigned to each witness report is shown in Table 7.

Table 7: Metrics Assigned to Witness Descriptions

Criteria	Pedro Saucedo	Newell Wright	Ronald Martin	James Long	Jim Wheeler	Jose Alvarez	Frank Williams
Shape	0.25	0.75	0.50	1.00	1.00	0.00	0.00
Size	1.00	0.25	0.25	1.00	1.00	0.00	0.00
Color	0.75	1.00	0.50	0.00?	1.00?	0.00	0.00
Action	0.50	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	0.50	1.00
Motion	1.00	0.75	0.75	0.75	0.75	0.25	0.75
Light Changes	0.00	0.00	0.50	1.00	0.00	0.00	1.00
Sound	1.00	0.00	0.00	1.00	0.00	0.00	1.00
Physical Effects	1.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Figure 1 - Pedro Saucedo

Figure 2 - Newell Wright

Figure 3 - Ronald Martin

Figure 4 - James Long

Figure 5 - Jim Wheeler

Figure 6 - Jose Alvarez

Figure 7 - Frank Williams

Summary of Radar Figures

For the seven eyewitness reports, none of the radar figures were identical. The descriptions from the 3 witnesses with the highest quality reports (Pedro Saucedo, Newell Wright, and Ronald Martin; Figure 1, 2 and 3 respectively) were also different. Shapes described by these witnesses were torpedo, loaf of bread, and ball. Sizes ranged from 200 ft to width of road (< 30 ft). Colors described were blue, white, and orange. Motion and action also varied. Of these three witnesses, only Saucedo heard any sound and felt heat and wind. Of these three witnesses, only Martin saw a change of light color from orange to bluish-green and back to orange. While overall these three witnesses experienced something similar, their descriptions of the light source were very different. A blue torpedo shaped light moving horizontally over a truck and emitting sound and heat appears to be a different phenomenon than (1) a white “loaf of bread” light hovering still over the road without any sound nor heat and (2) a round orange ball that drops vertically onto the road and changes color to bluish-green. Nevertheless, of the best-documented cases, the Wright and Martin cases are the most similar. Besides slight variations in shape and size estimates, the main discrepancy between their reports was the color of the object and that it changed colors. While Wright was quoted as saying the object size was between 75 ft and 125 ft, he recently told the author that the object diameter covered the width of the road. This size estimate is the same as what Ronald Martin said at the time.

Comparison of radar diagrams for the four other witnesses, whose reports were least reliable (Figures 4 through 7), show that each of them had a different description of the sighting. Jim Wheeler’s account is the closest to Wright and Martin’s description. The diagrams for Alvarez and Williams look very different mainly because of lack of data. Long’s description of his sighting, however, is very similar to William’s when we compare the known parameters. Nevertheless, no conclusive comparative statements can be made on these four reports. Of interest, however, is the fact that Long and Williams reported sounds just like Saucedo. All three witnesses described the sound as a clap of thunder. Moreover, only Long and Williams reported the object’s light to be blinking on and off and glowing intermittently like a neon sign.

Two references were found stating that Ronald Martin’s truck started by itself when the object left. One reference was an article written by Max Miller in Saucers magazine and the other reference was Don Berliner’s article in Official UFO[45] magazine. Miller implied that the engine of Ronald Martin’s truck started by itself when the object ascended vertically. He quotes Martin as saying:[46]

“One thing I can’t understand is how it could stop that combustion engine and then start it again when it took off.”

Miller’s article did not give a reference for this quote. Likewise, Berliner’s article did not give a reference for Martin’s claim. No reliable source was found to back this claim. The Lubbock Avalanche Journal, the Levelland Daily Sun News, and the Levelland Associated Press wires did not mention anything about self-starting engines. Bill Wilkerson, of the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, interviewed Martin and his article did not mention this claim. It is possible that an out-of-town newspaper published this claim since we found contradictory claims in other out-of-town newspapers. For example, a newspaper article from Amarillo (based on AP and UP wires) said that the object never cut off Martin’s truck engine or lights[47]. The best available sources of information indicate that all auto engines started normally after the ball of light left the scene. Thus we conclude that no auto engine in Levelland started by itself in November 2-3, 1957.

In conclusion, while there is a fundamental similarity amongst all seven reports (i.e. the car stoppages, a light source, the timing, and location), all seven reports were different in the details of the observations. The variety of descriptions for the light source tends to imply that it was not the same object seen seven times in 2.5 hours. Either there was more than one object seen that evening or it was a phenomenon whose properties were variable and diverse.