UFO Case Report:

The Levelland, Texas UFO Car-Stalling Incidents of 1957

Date:
Location:

Patrolman A. J. Fowler received a telephone call from one Pedro Saucedo who described how he and a man named Joe Salaz, traveling together on Route 116, about 4 miles west of Levelland, suddenly observed a brightly illuminated yellow, white torpedo-shaped object...

Classification & Features

Type of Case/Report:
Hynek Classification: .

Full Report / Article

Source: Brent Raynes, Mysterious America
[go to original source]

This mystery began around 11 p.m., on November 2, 1957, on the outskirts of Levelland, Texas, only an hour after the Russians had launched a second Sputnik satellite (this time with a dog inside), but before the American public had yet been informed of the launching. Patrolman A. J. Fowler received a telephone call from one Pedro Saucedo who described how he and a man named Joe Salaz, traveling together on Route 116, about 4 miles west of Levelland, suddenly observed a brightly illuminated yellow, white torpedo-shaped object, that seemingly rose into the air from a nearby field. It was an estimated 200 feet in length, and soon was flying at a high speed judged to be 600 to 800 miles per hour. It passed right over the truck they were in, at which time there was a sound comparable to “thunder” with a “rush of wind.” The truck actually rocked, there was “a lot of heat,” and as it flew overhead the headlights went out and the engine died. As the UFO moved off into the distance the truck lights came back on, and then the truck started back up without any problem.

This was just the beginning of many similar reports. The next call came from a man who was driving about 4 miles east of Levelland (the direction Saucedo had reported the UFO had departed in) when he came upon a brilliantly lit egg-shaped object, again estimated at 200 feet in length, sitting in the middle of the road. As he approached this his engine failed and headlights went out. The object was lit up like a large neon light, and cast a bright glare over the entire area. This man stepped out of his vehicle, and when he did the UFO rose about 200 feet into the air, and then blinked out. After this, he then had no difficulty in starting up his car.

Next some 11 miles north of Levelland, another motorist described how he came upon a mysterious glowing object sitting in the road, and again how as he approached it the engine and lights failed, and again, when the UFO left, all worked well again.

A 19-year-old freshman of Texas Tech described how at 12:05 a.m., approximately 9 miles east of Levelland, his car took out on him, acting as if he had run out of gas. He got out and checked under the hood. Everything looked fine. When he put his hood down, he then noticed an oval-shaped object, with a flat underside, sitting on the road ahead. He estimated that it was about 125 feet in length, and reported that it appeared to be made of an aluminum-like material, while it glowed a bluish-green illumination. He got back behind the wheel and in futility tried to restart the car. Then he gave up and just sat there and watched it until after several minutes the object rose “almost straight up”and then disappeared “in a split instant.” Naturally, after this the car operated fine.

Another caller reported that he was about 9 miles north of Levelland when he came upon a UFO sitting on a dirt road. Again, as he approached it his lights went out and his motor quit. Soon the UFO rose vertically into the air, very quickly, until it reached an altitude of about 300 feet, at which time its lights went out. After this, of course, the car lights came back on and the motor started back up with no problem.

Then around 12:45 a.m., a motorist driving just west of Levelland, close to the spot Saucedo and his friend had reported the initial sighting about two hours earlier, described how he had observed a large orange ball of fire. At first it appeared to be more than a mile away, but as he watched it continued to come closer. Then, at a distance estimated as about a quarter of a mile away, it softly landed on the highway. This motorist’s truck engine “conked out” and his lights went out. A minute later the UFO rose vertically, and then everything mechanically returned to normal. When this UFO was initially seen in the air it was a red-orange color. When it landed it became a bluish-green, and when it rose back up into the air it changed back to a red-orange.

At 1:15 a.m., officer Fowler received yet another call. This time it was from a terrified truck driver from Waco. He described how northeast of Levelland he had come upon a brilliantly glowing egg-shaped object, within about 200 feet of it, when it shot straight up into the air with a roar and then streaked away. His engine and lights had been affected, but again worked fine after the UFO left.

Around 1:30 a.m., Sheriff Weir Clem and Deputy Pat McCulloch were out on the Oklahoma Flat Road, some 4 to 5 miles from Levelland, when they briefly glimpsed an oval-shaped object an estimated 300-400 yards south of their position. “It lit up the whole pavement in front of us for about two seconds,” recalled the sheriff. Other patrolmen also glimpsed it or a similar object, but none of their vehicles were effected. Nonetheless, Levelland Fire Marshal Ray Jones joined in the search, and reported that his car’s headlights dimmed and his engine sputtered as a mysterious “streak of light” passed him.

In total, there had been at least seven separate UFO incidents reported wherein automotive vehicles were described being disabled and then rapidly and fully recovering upon the object’s departure, and these all occurred in the same general area and over about a two hour period of time.

Captain G. T. Gregory, then head of the Air Force’s Project Blue Book, hastily proposed that the UFO was ball lightning, as there had reportedly been an electrical storm in the area at the time. However, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, then Blue Book’s astronomical consultant, who initially concurred with Captain Gregory on this evaluation, later dismissed it when he learned that while the Levelland area had had an overcast sky and a mist in the air that night, no lightning had actually been reported. In addition, as he reflected on the data further, he realized that there was no evidence that ball lightning has ever temporarily stopped car engines and temporarily extinguished headlights in this fashion.

Coral Lorenzen, co-founder of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization, described how 1957 had been a quiet year for UFOs here in the United States, and how there had been few instances of car’s being stalled in the presence of UFOs until November 3, and after this the reports came in daily, and largely from here in our own country. She even wondered if some sort of “weapon or device” was being “tested” on our automobiles, accounting for the mysterious rash of reported automotive stalling incidents.

References:

1. Flying Saucers: The Startling Evidence of the Invasion from Outer Space, by Coral E. Lorenzen. A Signet Book, New York, 1962, 1966.

2. The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry, by J. Allen Hynek. Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, IL. 1972.

3. The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon from the Beginning. 2nd Edition. Vol. 2: L-Z. Written by Jerome Clark. Omnigraphics, Inc., Penobscot Building, Detroit, MI 48226. ISBN: 0-7808-0097-4.

4. For a summary of these and other apparent UFO/electrical and mechanical interference cases going all the way back to 1945, a National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena website has posted information at the following e-address: http://www.nicap.org/cat3-1964on.htm

Case ID: 230 edit: 230

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