Drivers near Levelland, Texas, report glowing objects and stalled engines
November 2, 1957 – November 3, 1957 · Levelland, Texas · Sighting · Secondary sources only
Between about 11 pm on 2 November and 1:45 am on 3 November 1957, Levelland police took about 15 calls about a glowing object on the roads around town. Pedro Saucedo and several other drivers said their engines and lights died as it passed and recovered once it left. Sheriff Weir Clem saw a glowing red oval, and the fire chief reported dimming headlights.
Why it matters (3/5)
A cluster of independent reports of vehicle interference, one of the better known early cases.
Caveats
Blue Book's investigator, Staff Sgt. Norman Barth, spent about seven hours in town, and an Air Force press release blamed 'ball lightning or St. Elmo's fire'. J. Allen Hynek later called a chance stall near a hovering light 'dubious at best', and physicist James McDonald told Congress in 1968 that ten vehicles stopped independently. The Blue Book file is linked from the source page but was not opened.
Sources
- The Vault Files: The Levelland UFO Incident, 1957 (The Black Vault), context