1957-The
Levelland, Texas, UFO Landings
By Billy Booth
Summary:
On November 2, 1957, one of the best documented cases
of UFO landings took place in Levelland, Texas,
at the time a city of about 10,000 people. This night would be the most
unforgettable experience ever for patrolman A. J. Fowler, who was manning the
police call line. He received fifteen different calls from anxious citizens reporting UFOs.
The sightings began at 11:00 PM, some four miles west of town. Pedro Saucedo
and friend Joe Salaz were driving in a pick-up truck, and observed a brightly
lit cigar-shaped object heading in their direction.
200
Foot Long Object:
Pedro's truck
began to fail, the engine cut out, and the electrical system went dead. The
truck was allowed to roll to a stop. Pedro and his friend recalled the unknown
object as being 200 feet long. In the small town of Whiteface, he called in
what he had seen to Fowler, who thinking he was talking to a drunk person,
dismissed the call.
Brightly Lit Egg-Shaped Object:
At 11:45 PM,
Fowler gets his second call of the night. Near the small town of Whitharral,
located four miles east of Levelland, a man encountered an egg-shaped object,
this time the object was sitting in the middle of the road. The object was
brightly lit. The man left his vehicle, watching the object from a safe
distance. Shortly, the UFO slowly raised from the ground to an altitude of about
200 feet, and disappeared. His vehicle had also stalled, but restarted after
the UFO was gone.
Object Lands on Road:
At 12:00 AM,
the third call of the night comes in. A man traveling about 11 miles north of
Levelland sees a UFO sitting on the road. His vehicle is disabled. He sits for
a time watching the unknown craft. Before long, the silent object lifts up, and
disappears into the night. The man's car immediately fires up again. He drives
to the nearest telephone, and calls in his report.
Object Sitting on Road:
At 12:10 A.M,
Texas Tech freshman Newell Wright was driving 9 miles east of Levelland when
his engine failed. The nineteen-year-old got out of his car, popped open the
hood, and tried to see if he had an electrical problem. He then saw an unknown
object landed on the pavement a small piece down the road. He estimated the
object's length at 125 feet. It was a bluish-green color. It soon rose up and
disappeared.
Fourth Object on Road:
Only five
minutes later, at 12:15 AM, another driver near Whitharral, encountered an
unknown object in the middle of the highway. His vehicle also was disabled.
Like the other drivers, after the object left, his vehicle returned to normal.
After a fourth call reporting a landed object in the middle of the road,
patrolman Fowler began to worry, and called patrol cars in the Levelland area
to be on the look out for this object.
Orange Ball Lands on Road:
At 12:45 AM, Fowler
received yet another report from the general area of Saucedo's initial
sighting. This time the driver sees an orange ball-like object coming toward
him. He reported that the UFO made a soft, quiet landing on the pavement of the
road. He also related a strange phenomena-the orange color of the object
changed to a bluish-green color as it landed on the highway. He could also
estimate the length of the object at about 18 feet, as it covered the entire
width of the road.
200 Foot Long Object Seen Again:
There would be
about a 30 minute lapse in the reports with the next one coming in at 1:15 AM.
A truck driver from the city of Waco, Texas, made the call. He tells Fowler
that driving northeast of Levelland, he saw a large unknown object which glowed
in the dark sky. The man sounded frightened on the phone. The trucker noted
that the object was about 200 feet long, which agreed with the initial Saucedo
report. The man's truck, temporarily disabled by the object, roared back to
life when the object left his area.
Two Policemen See Object:
Up until 1:30
AM, all of the reports received by Fowler had been from civilians. That would
change when he received a report from two lawmen, about 3-4 miles out of
Levelland. Sheriff Clem and Deputy McCullough testified that they observed a
"large, glowing object," pass across the highway in front of them.
The had never seen anything quite like it. They had been monitoring Fowler's
reports on the positions of the callers, and tracking the object. The officers
stated that the entire highway was lit up below the sun-like object.
No Less Than 15 Reports:
For reasons
that we will never know, for some 2 1/2 hours on the night of November 2, 1957,
the city of Levelland, Texas was visited by unknown flying objects that landed
on the roads of the city and surrounding areas. Patrolman Fowler logged fifteen
calls from concerned, and sometimes frightened callers. What exactly were the
UFOs that landed in or near Levelland? Certainly, a full investigation was
needed.
The day after the sightings, the entire city was full
of newspaper reporters, and other interested parties. The United States Air
Force did eventually arrive in Levelland, but only did a brief overview of the
case. They theorized that "ball lightning" could be the cause of the
sightings. Naturally, we know that ball lightning does not land on highways, and
disrupt car engines. The case of the Levelland, Texas, landings is still
unsolved.
Early UFO Reports
See some of the best known early cases of flying saucers
- The Kenneth Arnold Sighting
- The Roswell Crash
- Gorman Plane - UFO Encounter
- The Mantell Crash
- Chiles-Whitted Encounter
- The Lubbock Lights
- Washington DC Buzzed by UFOs
- Felix Moncla Encounter
- Levelland, Texas Landings
- The Trindade Island Photographs
- The Papua, New Guinea Sightings
- Betty & Barney Hill Abduction
- The Socorro, New Mexico Landing
- The Kecksburg, Pennsylvania Crash
- Encounter at Falcon Lake
- Foo Fighters - UFOs of World War II
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