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This 81-page Project Blue Book case file covers the Levelland, Texas sightings of the night of 2 to 3 November 1957. It holds the record card, Air Force teletype reports from the 1006th AISS and radar units, witness questionnaires, press clippings about the White Sands sightings, and analyst memos. Several witnesses said a bluish-white oval object stopped their car engines. The Air Force concluded the cause was ball lightning in stormy weather, with wet or faulty ignition systems explaining the engine failures.
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# FIERY Flying Object Stops Texas Trucks LEVELLAND, Tex. Reports of a mystery object which one witness said flew around with a "great sound and rush of wind" had officials and the public puzzled today. Newsmen and authorities had reports of sightings over a wide west Texas area Saturday and yesterday. Peace officers checking areas where landings were reported were unable to find any trace. Reese Air Force Base officials here declined to say whether an investigation was being made. Pedro Saucedo, 30, a farm hand and part-time barber here, told officers and newsmen, "I was driving out to a farm near the Pettit community (west of here) Saturday night with a friend, Joe Salaz, when we first saw the thing. We first saw a flash of light in a field to our right, and we didn't think much about it at first. "When it got near, the lights of my truck went out and the motor died. I jumped out of the truck and hit the dirt because I was afraid. I called to Joe but he didn't get out. The thing passed directly over my truck with a great sound and a rush of wind. It sounded like thunder and my truck rocked from the blast. I felt a lot of heat. Then I got up and watched it go out of sight toward Levelland," he said. . Saucedo, a Korean War veteran, said it was "torpedo shaped" or like "a rocket," but much larger. Ronald Martin, 18, a Levelland truck driver, said his truck engine died and the lights went out "when a big ball of fire dropped on the highway" east of here early Sunday. Martin said the object changed to a bluish green color when it settled on the highway, then changed to a fireball again when it rose straight up and disappeared. Newell Wright, a Texas Tech student from here, reported a similar occurrence also east of Levelland. Police Patrolman A. J. Fowler said Saucedo and about 14 others who called in reports of the object sounded upset and in some cases terrified. "They seemed to agree that this something was 200 feet long shaped like an egg and was lit up like it was on fire-but looked more like neon lights," he said. "They said it was about 200 feet in the air, and when it got close car motors and lights would go off. Everybody that called was very excited," he asserted. Sheriff Weir Clem said he saw a brilliant light in the distance but didn't get close enough for a good look. Highway Patrolmen Lee Hargrove and Floyd Cavin reported seeing similar flashes in the sky in about the same area and at the same time as Clem. All were riding in separate cars.
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