11/2/57 - Multiple Witnesses, Levelland TX; Various Times

Introduction

This case, perhaps the most important concentration of vehicle interference events in the United States, stands as a classic. In contrast with the models proposed by "debunkers", this concentration was short and sharp, and there was no apparent role able to be played by publicity in the unfolding of the events of 11/2 and 11/3. The reporting of the concentration was not followed by a drawn out series of similar accounts over the following days, as would be expected if psychosocial theories of UFO report generation were true. And, of course, significant (though mostly temporary) physical effects were reported by witnesses from every demographic category, includng law enforcement and military personnel. Heat, odor, and sound were also reported. Correlation of luminosity with vehicle interference is clear in a subset of the cases.

Two primary sources were used for these cases: Loren Gross' pamphlet "Fifth Horseman" (privately published) which collects the press accounts for the days of the events, and Hynek's UFO Experience, which presumably references the official files. Some discrepancies can be noted between these sources.

In addition, there is an excellent analysis of these sightings from Antonio Rullán.

The Catalog

*When*	*Who*	*Where*	*What (Gross)*	*Comments*	*What (Hynek)*
11/2/57 - Saturday
			"Several people who sighted it in the air said its lights would blink on and off like a sign."	Presumably a flickering similar to a neon sign having trouble maintaining ionization
Time unknown - night	Marion Smith, mechanic at Farmington Motor Co.	9 miles N of Levelland	"... Smith described the object as about 200 feet long and shaped like a dirigible. He said his and about a dozen other motorists' cars 'just quit' on the highway as he was passing the 'thing' [which was about 600 yards off the highway]. 'It was gun-metal color, but when it took off it turned into a ball of fire and went so fast I couldn't tell which direction it went.'... He said his car started as soon as the object disappeared. 'Some of us went over where it had rested and could feel the ground was warm. There was a smell of gasoline or ozone in the area.'"	-
8 PM	Odis Echols, owner of KCLV radio in Clovis NM	Clovis(?), NM	"... said he saw 'a streak of light like a fireball moving in a southeasterly direction'." Apparently first seen by son; whole family was in car.
	Witnesses reported to Highway Patrolman Gilbert Ray of Canyon City, TX	Amarillo, TX	"they came upon an object blocking the road... [which] couldn't be seen clearly because it was surrounded by a fog... the object glowed brightly but the witnesses didn't see any detail. As the car advanced it entered the fog... the motor died and the battery went dead. [There is no mention of what happened to the UFO in the papers, but the] couple were left stranded... until another motorist gave them a push into town. The couple had the battery recharged."
9:15 PM	R.T. Yates of Lubbock	Between Guthrie and Dickens, TX	Large "meteor" "came out of the SW sky at a 60 degree angle at terrific speed but seemed to slow as it approached the horizon."
10:50 PM (?)	Pedro Saucedo, Joe Salaz	4 mi W of Levelland on State Highway 116	"Pedro Saucedo, 30, a Levelland farm hand, part time barber...[and] a Korean war veteran...was driving out to the Gerald Reding farm, near the Petit community with a friend, Joe Salaz... 'We first saw a flash of light in a field to our right and didn't think too much about it at first. "'Then it rose up out of the field and started toward us, picking up speed. When it got near, the lights of my truck went out and the motor died. I jumped out of the truck and hit the deck because I was afraid.' "'I called to Joe but he didn't get out. The thing passed directly over my truck with a great sound and rush of wind. It sounded like thunder and my truck rocked with the blast. I felt a lot of heat.' "'Then I got up and watched it go out of sight toward Levelland. We drove on to Whiteface to call the police and we stopped at a feed mill where a man said that someone else had just told him about it.' "Saucedo described the object as torpedo shaped or like a rocket, but much larger. He said he had seen rockets and torpedos while in the service."	-	"[Four miles west of Levelland]...Pedro Saucedo [also called Siado according to Gross[footnote 1] (Ed.)]... with companion Joe Salaz... [saw] a torpedo-shaped, brilliantly illuminated object... [which] rapidly approached the [truck]... As the object passed over the truck, the lights went out and the engine died... 'I saw a big flame, to my right front... I thought it was lightning. But when this object had reached my position, it was different, because it put my truck motor out and lights... it was so rapid and quite some heat that I had to hit the ground. It also had colors - yellow white - and it looked like a torpedo, about 200 feet long, moving about 600-800 miles an hour'.[The object disappeared to the east] "As the UFO moved into the distance, the truck lights... came on by themselves... and [the] truck started easily."
11:50 PM (?)	Jim Wheeler	4 mi E of Levelland on State Highway 116	"A man who identified himself as Jim Wheeler called and said he drove up on [the object] at the intersection of Highway 51 and a farm road eight miles north of [Levelland]. 'It was just sitting there all lit up...it shuts off your lights and kills your motor'... it looked like it was 'lit up with neon lights'... he started to get out of his car... [and the object] rose abruptly. At a height of about 200 feet, its lights went off. His car lights went back on. 'It was so bright it lighted up the whole area.'"	Witness was unable to be located later by police
	Alvarez	10 mi N and 4 mi E of Levelland, near Lubbock highway	"[It] was circling a cotton field, just above the ground, four miles east of [Levelland] near the Lubbock highway... [and] on one of the circles, the [object's] light went out. It just disappeared. "... electric power returned to the witnesses' car. The headlight functioned normally and the engine came alive."	Witness was unable to be located by police	"... another man, 11 miles north of Levelland... had come across a glowing object sitting on the road and that as he approached it... his car engine stopped, and his headlights went out. But when the object left shortly thereafter, all was again well..." (Not certain this is the same account, since no names are provided)
11/3/57 Sunday
12:05 AM	Newell, Wright, freshman, Texas Tech	Near the town of Smyer, while witness was driving toward Levelland	"...[the] amp meter jumped to complete discharge and then back to normal... the car engine quit 'as if it were out of gas', rolled to a stop and the lights went out... [the witness] got out and examined under the hood... but could find nothing wrong... he turned around and saw the object in front of him, apparently in the road... 'it looked like an egg, only it was flat on the bottom'... there were no portholes [or] signs of propellers on the object, which he described as 'not as bright as neon'... [the witness] was scared, got back in the car as fast as he could, then tried to start his car. The starter made contact but wouldn't turn the motor... "[The witness] sat on the highway for what he thought was minutes, watching the motionless egg-shaped object. 'It looked about 75 feet long, but I don't know how close I was to it. 'It wasn't brightly colored... It was white with a little greenish tint, but that might have been caused by the windshield... and seemed to be made of an aluminum-like material. "...he watched the object rise from the ground until it rose above the line of his windshield... by the time he moved to where he could look higher into the sky through the windshield, the object was gone... 'It could have been hidden by clouds since the night was overcast.'... "After it was gone, the car started normally, and he drove on ahead slowly, seeing no signs of where the object had been on the highway."	Note size and color discrepancy	"At 12:05 AM... a 19 year old freshman from Texas Tech, driving roughly 9 miles east of Levelland, found that his car engine began to sputter, the ammeter on the dash jumped to discharge then back to normal, and the motor started 'cutting out like it was out of gas'. The car rolled to a stop; then the headlights dimmed, and several seconds later went out... Closing the hood [after checking the engine], ... he noticed... a oval shaped object, flat on the bottom, sitting on the road ahead. He estimated it to be about 125 feet long, glowing with a bluish-green light... the object appeared to be made of an aluminum like material, but no markings or other details were apparent... [he] tried frantically but in vain to restart the car... Resigned, he sat and watched the object... for several minutes... the UFO finally rose into the air 'almost straight up' and disappeared 'in a split instant'... the car was again fully operable."
12:15 AM	Frank D. Williams of Kermit	4 mi N of Levelland	"He called from a pay booth, explaining it was sitting at the intersection of the highway and a dirt road. 'It's light was going off and on.'... Every time it came on, his car lights and motor would go off. "He got out of his car and the [object] rose swiftly to about 200 feet. Its lights went out and it disappeared." "'When it took off... it sounded like thunder.'"	-	"...Mr. W... was driving 4 miles east of Levelland when he came upon a brilliantly-lit egg-shaped object, about 200 feet long, sitting in the middle of the road. As Mr. W approached it, his car engine failed, and the headlights went out... the object was lit up like a large neon light and cast a bright glare over the entire area. The observer decided to get out of the car, but when he did so, the object rose, and at an altitude of about 200 feet, the object's light... blinked out completely. Mr. W then had no trouble starting his car." "[Whitharral, TX] ...Mr F. Williams said he encountered a disc shaped object on the road at 12:15 AM. His car headlamps and motor were affected. The light from the UFO pulsated steadily on and off. Each time it came on, Mr. Williams said the car headlamps went out. Finally, the disc arose 'with a noise like thunder' and disappeared. The car then functioned normally."[footnote 2]
12:45 AM	Ronald Martin, 18 year old truck driver	State Highway 116 approaching Levelland	"... he saw a 'big ball of fire' hovering in the sky approximately 1.5 mi ahead of him. The [object] dropped down and landed on the road some 300-400 yards away. The [object] was a round-shaped fire ball that turned a bluish green color as it settled to earth. Martin noticed the thing was as wide as the paved portion of the highway, and the glow from it so bright it lit up his truck cab. "At this time the truck's engine quit and the headlights went out... [The witness estimated that 15 minutes passed during which the object remained stationary]. "The [object] then changed back to its original color and took off straight up. The truck's headlights came back on and... the truck's engine started by itself... [The witness stated] "...I can't understand how it could stop that combustion engine and then start it again when it took off.'"	Is this a front view of the object?	"At 12:45... [a witness] driving just west of Levelland.. spotted what looked like a big orange ball of fire at a distance of more than a mile. The ball then came closer and landed... on the highway about a quarter mile in front of the observer... the motor of the truck [stopped] and his headlights died... the object sat on the road ahead of him, glowing bright enough to light up the cab of his truck. In about a minute... it made a vertical ascent [and the vehicle could operate normally again]... when the UFO landed, it [had] changed from its original red-orange color to a bluish green, but... when it rose it changed back to red orange..."
1:00 AM	Sheriff Weir Clem and deputy Pat McCullough	Two miles NW of Levelland	"[On patrol looking for the object reported to the police]... Sheriff Clem and his deputy ...[noted] the moon was very bright. There were a few thin clouds in the sky, but not enough to obscure the moon. "...something brilliant red lit up the pavement in front of them for about two seconds. [Clem describes] a bright beam about 6 feet high, 50 yards wide, and 350-400 yards long... 300-400 yards away... '[After his retirement,] in 1975, he said, 'the object was shaped like a huge football and had bright white lights. The blinding lights flashed on it went right over the car and was gone. No living human could believe how fast it traveled. The [object] was as bright as day; it lit up the whole area.'" Strange flashes in the sky were seen by nearby Highway Patrolmen Lee Hargrove and Floyd Cavia.	Perhaps "beam" is as in "rod" or "tube" or long shape. Some difficulty arises in interpreting the measurements. Note time difference	"At 1:30 AM, driving along the Oklahoma Flat Road [sherrif and deputy]... spotted an oval shaped light 'looking like a brilliant red sunset across the highway' a good 300-400 yards south of their patrol car. 'It lit up the whole pavement in front of us for about two seconds.'... [two other officers] several miles behind... '... saw a strange looking flash, which looked to be down the roadway approximately a mile to a mile and a half. The flash when from east to west and appeared to be close to the ground...' ... [a constable saw the object briefly..."
	Fire Marshal Roy James	North of Levelland	"[James was looking for the UFO] when, inexplicably, the lights on his vehicle dimmed. His engine also acted up, almost stopping. At the same moment, a streak of light was visible."
1:15AM	Waco truck driver James D. Long	5 miles West of Levelland	"A... Waco truck driver named... Long was driving about 5 mi W of Levelland at about 1:15 AM on the Oklahoma Flats farm to market road. He had just left Levelland on a run to a destination E of town. As his truck rolled along, something up ahead caught his eye. It seems something was sitting in the middle of the road, and here is an important point: Long said the [object's] lights were off... The object remained dark until the truck approached within 200 feet, at which point the [object's] lights went on. "The [object] Long told the press, was about 200 feet long, oval shaped, and glowed like a neon sign. The same moment the object lit up, Long's truck stopped because the vehicle's engine quit. Simultaneously the headlights went out. "Long... started to walk toward the big object that was blocking his way. Suddenly the UFO took off straight up, making a roaring sound as it shot heavenward. For some reason Long lost consciousness for a moment but he quickly regained his senses. Apparently the UFO was moving slowly or had stopped, because when Long looked at it again, it wasn't that far away - perhaps some 200 feet in the air. At that point the UFO's lights went out... [Long] jumped back into the tuck and tried to get it started. The engine acted normally when Long turned the key in the ignition."	Note connection between effect and luminosity	"At 1:15 ... a ... truck driver just north of Levelland [called]... engine and headlights suddenly failed as he approached within 200 feet of a brilliant, glowing, egg-shaped object... it glowed intermittently, like a neon sign... about 200 feet long... as he got out of the truck, the UFO quickly shot straight up with a road and streaked away... the truck engine and lights worked perfectly when the object left..."
2:00 AM	Grady Fennell	2619 College, Seth Ward, Plainview, 50 M NW of Levelland	"...she first heard something which 'sounded like a big wind' and thought it was a car going by. Then the entire bedroom lit up. By the time Mrs. Fennell reached the window, all she could see was 'a big flash of light' which appeared to the northwest."
3:00 AM	Corporal Glenn H. Toy and PFC James E. Wilbanks	White Sands Proving Ground, NM, 200 mi SW of Levelland	"At about 0230-0300 Sunday morning I and PFC Wilbanks were on patrol in the Range area when we noticed a very bright object high in the sky. We were proceeding north toward the South Gate and the object kept coming down toward the ground. The object stopped approximately 50 yards from the ground and went out and nothing could be seen. A few minutes later, the object became real bright (like the sun) and then fell in an angle to the ground and went out. The object was approximately 75 to 100 yards in diameter and shaped like an egg. The object landed in the bunker area approximately 3 miles from us. The object was not seen again."
2:50 PM	Bill Bacon of Midland	Midway between Odessa and Midland, TX	"... a bluish-white object dropped down out of the heavily overcast sky about midway between Odessa and Midland, was visible for about 15 seconds, and disappeared in the fog."
7:30 PM	Robert Toby, radio station owner and GOC observer, CBS cameraman Russell B. Day	Deming, NM	"... a large, brightly lit object swept in over the area... As the UFO manuvered through the clear sky, Day recorded its movements on 35 feet of film."
8:00 PM	SP-3 Forest R. Oakes and SP-3 Henry R. Barlow	White Sands A-bomb test range bunkers	"...saw a large bright light hanging approximately 50 feet over bunker. It took off at a 45 degree angle and went up into the sky, then it started blinking on and off. Then it disappeared. I would say it was between 200-300 feet long and just about as wide. It was very bright, as the sun. We were approximately 4 or 5 mi W of the light."
9:00 - 10:00 PM	James F. Phillips	Wichita Falls, TX	"... went outside after a power failure and saw a lighted object traveling in a NW direction. The lights failed for just a few seconds, but his shortwave radio continued to buzz until the object left the area,"
10:55 PM	Tech Sgt Jack Waddell, USAF Control Tower Operator at Dyess AFB	Dyess AFB, TX	"... saw an oddly lighted object glowing neon red near the San Angelo highway."

"... a total of 15 phone calls were made to the police station."[footnote 3]

Hynek Classification	CE-II
Original Vallee Classification	Type Id
Current Vallee Classification	CE2
Minimum Distance	200 feet?
Object Appearance	Oval, white or reddish in color, sometimes bluish green on the ground, occasionally flashing intermittently. No legs observed.
Object Behavior	Typically landed on highway in front of vehicle or was already present. Motor and electrical system failed. One case of engine restarting without driver intervention. Object departed. Typical departure was vertical at moderate speed to 200 foot altitude followed by lights out or speedy departure. Object was also observed in transit. Luminosity and effect seemed to correlate. Distance and effect also seem to correlate. Object was able to extinguish luminosity and remain airborne.
Physical Effect	Auto engine and headlight failures. Battery drain to exhaustion. One case of engine restarting without intervention. Smell, heat, and sound.
Medical Effect	None
Comments / Conclusion	One of the most important EM cases, due to the large number of witnesses in a tight time span, the effects noted, and the time available for the witnesses to observe the object.

Footnotes

1. UFOs: A History; 1957, 11/3-11/5, Loren Gross, privately published, p 9

2. Cramp, UFOs and Anti-Gravity, ISBN 0-932813-43-7, confirmed in Gross, p 2

3. The UFO Experience, Hynek, ISBN 0-345-27361-3, p 141