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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