40 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
40 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
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SUBJECT: BALL LIGHTING IN LEVELLAND FILE: UFO2409
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On November 2, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik II into orbit. Within
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hours, coincidentally or otherwise, a UFO wave erupted in the United States.
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At first the wave appeared to be concentrated in a small backwater area of
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west Texas, where a series of remarkable UFO encounters took place.
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The sheriff's office in the town of Levelland scoffered that evening when a
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frightened man called to report that he and a friend, driving on a country
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highway four miles west of town, had seen a 200-foot-long "rocket" rise up
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from a field and rush toward their truck. Terrified on an imminent collision,
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the two flew out of the cab and hurled themselves into the ditch. As the UFO
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passed just above the truck, rocking it with a blast as loud as thunder, the
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vehicle's engine died and its lights went out, only to resume a few seconds
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later when the mysterious object disappeared from view.
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An hour later, another caller recounted his experience with an identical UFO
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that had also interfered with the electric functioning of his car. The
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scoffing stopped, and sheriff's officers soon found themselves handling
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comparable stories from frightened observers who had seen a giant, light- and
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engine-killing UFO at locations west, east, and north of Levelland. At 1:30
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A.M. Sheriff Weir Clem and a deputy saw the UFO themselves. A few minutes
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later Ray Jones, Levelland's fire marshal, experienced motor difficulty when
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the same or a similar phenomenon was in view.
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The official Air Force explanation: "ball lightning." But ball lightning never
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exceeds more than a few feet in diameter and is usually only inches around.
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Project Blue Book claimed an electrical storm was in progress during the
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sightings; there was no storm. By 1957 Project Blue Book's "investigations"
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were perfunctory at best. Even its chief scientific adviser, astronomer J.
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Allen Hynck, would later remark on the "absence of evidence that ball
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lightning can stop cars and put out headlights."
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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**********************************************
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