California Sightings
11-23-1896 Oakland, CA
Many citizens of Oakland observed a cigar-shaped airship that hovered over St. Mary's College. Some witnesses saw the ship emit a beam of light from its stern and said it had birdlike wings. This craft, or one like it, was reportedly seen several times weeks and months later, according to the Oakland Tribune.
08-1941 San Jose, CA
Cameraman Michael Conversa photographed 13 star-like objects near the position of the moon.
02-25-1942 Los Angeles, CA
"Los Angeles Times" staff photographers snapped several photographs of 15 or more silvery UFOs in night searchlight beams. The objects were circular in shape and somewhat luminous. 1430 rounds of anti-aircraft artillery shells were fired during the one hour observation. Nothing was shot down. Witnesses included searchlight crews, gun crews and thousands of spectators.
06-14-1947 Bakersfield, CA
Flying from Chicago to Los Angeles, US fighter pilot Richard Rankin sighted a triangular formation of 10 metallic saucer shaped craft. They were each 30m in diameter and flew at approximately 900km per hour. They quickly overtook Rankin and vanished from view.
07-06-1947 Fairfield-Suisan Air Base, CA
July 6, 1947; Fairfield-Suisan Air Base, California. Daytime. Witnesses: Army Air Forces Capt. and Mrs. James Burniston. Watched for 1 minute while one object having no wings or tail rolled from side-to-side three times and then flew away very fast to the southeast.
07-08-1947 Muroc Air Base, CA
July 8, 1947; Muroc Air Base, California. 9:30 a.m. PDT. Witnesses: lst Lt. Joseph McHenry, T/Sgt Ruvolo, S/Sgt Nauman, Miss Janette Scotte. Watched for an unstated length of time while two disc-shaped or spherical objects--silver and apparently metallic--flew a wide circular pattern, and then one of them later flew a tighter circle. Air base officials observed the flight of several luminous, saucer shaped objects. The craft, flying into the wind, traveled at approximately 300mph at 8,000ft. Earlier that day, engineers were called from their aircraft maintenance duty to watch a metal saucer hover over the base.
07-08-1947 Avalon, CA
A UFO was reportedly photographed by witnesses Jung and Johnson. No other details are available.
07-29-1947 Hamilton Air Base, CA
July 29, 1947; Hamilton Air Base, California. 2:50 p.m. PDT. Witnesses: Assistant Base Operations Officer Capt. William Rhyerd, ex-AAF B-29 pilot Ward Stewart. Watched for unknown length of time while two round, shiny, white objects with estimated 15-25 foot diameters, flew 3-4 times the apparent speed of a P-80, also in sight. One object flew straight and level; the other weaved from side-to-side like an escort fighter.
09-23-1948 San Pablo, CA
Sept. 23, 1948; San Pablo, California. 12 noon. Witnesses: Sylvester Bentham and retired U.S. Army Col. Horace Eakins. Two objects: one, a buff or grey rectangle with vertical lines; the other a translucent "amoeba" with a dark spot near the center. The arms of the "amoeba" undulated. Both objects travelled very fast.
12-03-1948 Fairfield-Suisan AFB, CA
Dec. 3, 1948; Fairfield-Suisan AFB, California. 8:15 p.m. Witness: USAF Sgt., control tower operator. One round, white light flew for 25 seconds with varying speed, bouncing motion, and finally a rapid erratic climb.
04-04-1949 Merced, CA
April 4, 1949; Merced, California. 10:20 p.m. witness: William Parrott, former Air Force pilot and major. One generally round object with a curved bottom and dull coloring. The object gave off a clicking sound until overhead. Parrott's dog reacted. 35 seconds.
05-06-1949 Livermore, CA
May 6, 1949; Livermore, California. 9:35 a.m. Witness: C. G. Green. Two shiny, disc-like objects rotated around each other and banked. Then one shot upwards with a grey trail and rejoined the other. The sighting lasted 5 minutes.
08-02-1949 Catalina Island, CA
A UFO was reportedly photographed over the Pacific in the vicinity of Catalina Island. No other details are available.
08-19-1949 Death Valley, CA
August 19, 1949 - Death Valley, California, Two prospectors named Mace Garney and Buck Fitzgerald claimed to have watched an object crash in the desert. It was a 24-foot disc. The story appeared on page 13 of the local Bakersfield newspaper the next day.
09-05-1949 Lebec, CA
A UFO was reported to have been photographed at Lebec. No other details are available.
Pictures from 1965
Picture from 1976
Dated March 23, 1977
LA Times
UNEXPLAINED LIGHTS SEEN RACING OVER SOUTH LAND LOS ANGELES -
A pair of unexplained lights reportedly maneuvering in tandem in the sky were reported early Tuesday by military personel and police officers as well as civilian observers in the Los Angeles area. Seven March Air Force Base airmen, five Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and two California Highway Patrol officers were among those witnessing the early morning flight. There was no immediate explanation for the sightings, though one scientist suggested it could have been a rare double meteor. But some witnesses disagreed. "I've seen meteors before and this didn't even resemble a meteorite," said Mark Hogan, a 26-year-old cargo handler at Los Angeles International Airport. Hogan and a pilot friend said they saw the "teardrop" or "tin-can-shaped" lights sweep in at a high rate of speed from the direction of Santa Catalina Island about 3:30 am and then fly in formation over the airport runway. The unobstructed sighting lasted 10 to 15 seconds, Hogan said. "In my opinion, they (the lights) weren't natural. They were some sort of controlled vehicles" because the lights remained at fixed interval, he said. Earlier, two helicopter-borne sheriff's deputies saw a very bright light with an orange tint passing one-quarter to one-half mile in front of them while they were over La Mirada at an altitude of about 600 feet. About 3:30 am verteran sheriff's deputies in Firestone and in Long Beach also said they observed two bright lights following each other across the sky. A Firestone resident claimed the objects bathed his home in a flood of blue light. A Huntington Beach police helicopter crew reported a sighting about the same time. Sheriff's Sgt. Vincent Rupp, monitoring Civil Defense radio call sat the sheriff's radio room in East Los Angeles, said he heard UFO sightings reported from Sacramento, Salinas, Los Angeles, Orange Countyand March Air Force Base between 3:45 and 4 am. A March Air Force Base spokesman, while confirming the sightings had been made from the base, said there had been no rocket or missle testings which could have accounted for the lights. The objects did not show up on any radar readings, he said. Dr. Edwin Krupp, a scientist at Griffith Park Observatory, said that what witnesses saw might have been a rare astronomical phenomenon such as a double meteor. But Krupp said he "didn't want to insist" that his explanation was correct because neither he nor anyone at the observatory saw the lights.
Witnesses observed circular object aproximately 300 feet in diameter directly over them. The object then made a 90 degree turn, went into a fast speed and disappeared out of sight. Witnesses said while observing the object it made a rumbling sound and shook a house and a barn. Duration of the sighting was aproximately 20 seconds.
While driving south on Highway U.S. 395 near Edwards Air Rorce Base, two witnesses reported observing a stationary long rectangular shaped object. The witnesses said that the object was a bright silver in its color. The witnesses also said when they were near the object their radio had a lot of static on it. The witnesses said when they stopped the car the object had disappeared. Total duration of sighting: ten minutes.
Sightings of strange flying object shave become more frequent in these parts since late May when a California Highway Patrol officer spotted a peculiar light in the sky during the wee hours of the morning. But last weekend, not only did Sonoman Joan Burtson observe an unusual flying object - this one toyed with her and followed her car for several blocks before finally giving up and going away.The head nurse at a local convalescent hospital dismesses the notion that the bright object in the dawn sky which taunted her for some 15 minutes was a space ship carting around some alien beings."I don't believe in them," she emphatically states. "I don't know what it was but I don't believe in UFO's. Burtson will acknowledge that in the last few weeks she has heard numerous rumors of UFO sightings in Sonoma Valley. For instance, an acquaintance on Eighth Street East reported that ever since the CHP officer saw the strange light two months ago "that thing has been hanging around here." However, Burtson's description and that of the CHP patrolman are vastly different leading one to believe there are several odd things hovering around up there. What was seen on the early morning of May 21 was a bright orange "X" shaped object heading at a high rate of speed over the Valley to Petaluma. The only similarity with Saturday's unexplained illuminating object was that both were apparently headed in the same direction over the hill to Petaluma. Burtson remembers it as a "solid mass of white light, it was circular about the size of an apple." There were no colors and it was not flashing." she recalls. Burtson's curious find took place at 5:15 a.m. as she was on her way home from Napa after dropping her husband Pat off at work. She initially noticed the stationary light in the vicinity of Eighth Street East and Napa Road. Later as she approached Leveroni Road from Fifth Street West the flying object moved along with her and made the same right turn. She subsequently made three U turns and each time the object would seemingly use its remote control to reverse its course also. "I thought to myself this is weird so I made three U turns to test it out," she says. On occasion, the UFO would become obscured by the trees but almost the entire way home, no matter what Burtson would do " it would move right along with me," she laughs. Finally, the flying object, for whatever reason, decided the game of cat and mouse was over and it headed towards the Diamond A area, disappearing over the hill.
At 8:20 p.m. northwest of north Hollywood, California toward direction of Van Nuys a X shaped object strobbing red and blue was observed. First sighted by witness from side of building and then went up on roof with binoculars. Rested binoculars on steady surface and observed that object was definitely moving up and down in a zigzag fashion. Duration was 4-5 minutes. Went out of sight to northwest and with no sound.
MERCURY NEWS, San Jose, CA - Oct. 23,1986 Mystery lights return to Saratoga By Kathy Holub Mercury News Staff Writer A beautiful apparition has been glowing in the night sky over Saratoga, leaving viewers baffled and entranced. About 15 people, all agog, called Santa Clara County dispatchers on Tuesday night to report a mysterious bright red light that hovered in the sky from 8:15 to 8:30 and then dis-appeared. Dozens of callers described a similar phenomenon on Oct. 16, same time, same place. "It was very exciting," said Maureen Denton of Los Gatos, who watched last week's display during a break in her real estate class at West Valley College. "It was very bright, much larger than the lights you see on airplanes. At one point, something burning or flickering dropped from it. It was just a tiny little flicker that came down. We all went: `Oooh, what was that?" No one seems to know. That includes Vicki Yauger of Saratoga, who spied the object Tuesday night while lounging with her husband in thier backyard spa. Yauger said the light appeared high in the northwestern sky, first moving toward them, then away. Through her binoculars, the apparition became a cluster of lights. "It was scary. When it started get-ting larger, it seemed to be coming down," she said. Yauger didn't see the object fade from view because she had just gone into the house. Her husband told her the light turned green and slowly disappeared. Spokesmen at Moffett Field Naval Air Station said nothing flew out of their airfield Tuesday that looked like that. And officials at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc said they didn't launch a thing Tuesday night. Ditto for Oct.15. Other watchers of the night sky -air traffic controllers and astronomers at Lick Observatory - said they saw nothing unusual.
ARKANSAS GAZETTE, Little Rock, AR - Nov. 26, 1986 Fireball not man-made, experts say Defense experts Tuesday eliminated "space junk or any man-made object" as an explan- ation for a mysterious meteoric fireball that streaked across the Pacific Coast. The object, sighted at 8:22 p.m. (CST) Monday, dazzled stargazers from the California-Oregon border to the Los Angeles area. "It looked like a long, green meteor but it lasted way too long, arcing across the sky toward the ocean, then it just blew up, " Roy Jackson of Mountain View, Cal., said. "It wasn't space junk or any man-made object re-entering the atmosphere, and we don't track meteors," Del Kindschi of the North American Aerospace Defense Command at Denver said. "We heard about it but there weren't any satellites or man-made space objects entering the atmosphere at that time." (UPI)
A mysterious meteor-like fireball that "blew up" was sighted in the night sky along the length of the California coastline early today. "It looked like a long green meteor but it lasted way too long, arcing across the sky toward the ocean, then it just blew up," Roy Jackson, Mountain View, said of the brilliant light reported at about10:22 p.m. PST. The state Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento said it had received several reports of the streaking light and had checked numerous Air Force bases along the coast but none reported knowledge of it. "We haven't been able to find out anything about it," an Emergency Services spokesman said. "The Air Force didn't know anything about it." Some viewers speculated it might have been "space junk" burning up when it hit the earth's atmosphere. The light was seen from Siskiyou County bordering Oregon to Orange County south of Los Angeles, according to one report. "It looked like an ordinary meteor at first but then seemed to ball up like a comet and then became a brilliant yellow fireball," said Darrell Murphy of El Sobrante north of Berkeley. A San Francisco radio station, KGO, received at least 20 calls about the fireball, reporter Steve Walsh said.
3/17/89 BISHOP, CA. 5:30 PM CE1
Two witnesses Silver, oblong object, shaped like fuselage, black canopy on top in front with what appeared to be black windows on the side, big as 747, moving fast and reflected sunlight. Increased speed and left. 30 sec.
3/28/89 NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA. 1:29 PM NL
Two witnesses Huge, shiny, gold sphere straek across northern sky, west to east. Visible against a blue sky. No trail.
5/10/89 BAUTISTA CANYON, CA. 7:45 PM CE3
Single witness 30 foot craft, 6-8 beings. EM-effects and TV. Humming sound. 11 min.
CIGAR-SHAPED UFO SEEN NEAR PLACERVILLE
On February 28, 1998, at 10:55 p.m., Karl S., a former air crewman with the U.S. Navy Reserve, was on a Boeing 747 jumbo jetliner, returning home to Los Angeles from Asia.
As the jetliner passed over San Francisco, turning to 170 degrees for its final approach into Los Angeles, Karl glanced out the window and spotted the impossible. "We had just dropped to 30,000 feet and were turning south to fly over the central California valley," Karl reported. "As I looked toward the northeast direction (the area around Sacramento--J.T.), scanning the full breadth of the mountains, I noticed what I quickly categorized as a slender, dark-colored cloud. If you would hold up a ballpoint pen, you would see the approximate shape." Taking a second look, Karl saw "that the end of the 'cloud' had 'gone up' about 30 degrees from its original horizontal position. I immediately exclaimed that clouds do not tilt up." The UFO "became level again and then rotated in the horizontal and was pointing toward the aircraft (Boeing 747). At this point, I described it as a black pencil with the top layer shaved off...At no time did I see any control surfaces." As the UFO moved out of the window's field of view, Karl left his seat and rushed to the rear of the aircraft. He peered through the window of the rear emergency door "but could not see it any longer." (Many thanks to Tim Hagemeister of NACOMM for this report.) (Editor's Comment: From Karl's description, the object appears to have been closer to the mountains than to Sacramento. Most likely it was hovering high above Placerville (population 8,355) about 135 miles (216 kilometers) east of San Francisco.)
05-04-1998
MYSTERIOUS GREEN LIGHTS SEEN OVER HALF MOON BAY
On Monday, May 4, 1998, around 11:30 p.m., residents of Half Moon Bay and El Granada, California spotted three mysterious green lights hovering just offshore. Half Moon Bay (population 8,886) and El Granada (population 4,426) are on Highway 1 about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of San Francisco. Reports were also received from two or three residents living on Skyline Boulevard, north of Redwood City. According to Larry Hatch, "observers" on a tugboat in Half Moon Bay "also saw the lights for 30 minutes. The tugboat operator described them as green 'stoplights' (traffic lights--J.T.) He also said they were arranged in a straight vertical row. (Many thanks to Larry Hatch and Errol Bruce-Knapp for this news story.)