NUFORC Sighting 75828

Occurred: 1959-06-30 21:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2010-06-18 05:38 Pacific
Duration: <1 minute
No of observers: 7

Location: Phoenix, AZ, USA

Shape: Disk
Characteristics: Lights on object

1959 Saucer shaped object sighting Phoenix Arizona

In 1959 in Phoenix Arizona near South Mountain on or about baseline road traveling via car west to east at approximately 9 or 10:00 p.m. a bright white light saucer shaped object flew from our right at a steep descent as if coming off or over the top of the mountain, dipping in front of us on the road and flying northeastward, fast and far into the sky to the outer atmosphere to pinpoint size and then flying to the left abruptly and disappearing like a shooting star. It was a bright white glow which appeared to be multiple lights with no colored lights.

The speed and abrupt movement was nothing like I’d ever seen. We were used to seeing and hearing jets in and around Phoenix but never at night. Jets frequently broke the sound barrier over Phoenix during that time so we were used to seeing them and this was not one of them.

There were 9 of us in the car. My two parents and I were in the front seat and my 3 brothers and 3 sisters in the back seat. My two parents and I saw it clearly for the duration of the event which lasted less than one minute or half a minute. Four siblings saw the event and the other 3 were sleeping. It had to have been a weekend day because my parents would not have had us out that late on a week night.

There was much commotion in the car and my parents, who were normally calm and serious, sounded alarmed and scared, which scared me. The term UFO was not used; we all used the term "flying saucer" to describe it. My father abruptly told all of us that we were never to speak of this again because the child welfare people would think they were crazy and unfit parents and take us away. We never reported the incident to anyone.

I mentioned it to my parents several years later in the 1980s and they both remembered the incident vividly. In February 2009 all of my siblings were together and I asked if any of them remembered the incident and all four of them that witnessed it remembered the event.

My parents are now deceased but all siblings are living. Phoenix was a really small town back then. South Mountain was a nice area, not a slum like today. There were radio towers on top of the mountain. From the top of South Mountain you can see all of Phoenix as well as Luke Air Force Base and Sky Harbor Airport (which was very small back then).

I’m reporting it now because I thought there should be some record of the incident for posterity.

NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that date in 1959. PD

Posted 2010-06-23