NUFORC Sighting 55645

Occurred: 1986-07-15 17:30 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2007-03-10 22:17 Pacific
Duration: <1 minute
No of observers: 1

Location: Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA, USA

Shape: Rectangle


Strange, angular object clearly seen flying over Palos Verdes Peninsula in California.

I was driving home from the Los Verdes Golf Course on the Palos Verdes Peninsula during the summer of 1986. Truthfully, it has been so long that I may be off by a year or so on the date, but it was the middle of summer. LVGC is on the west side of the peninsula, near the top of the hill above the Pacific Ocean. The time was about 5 pm or 6 pm and the sky was clear and sunny.

As I began to drive down the hill towards the ocean on Hawthorne Blvd, I noticed a strange flying object, near the cliffs on the water. It was moving slowly, no more than 20-40 mph. The position of the object was south of the Point Vicente lighthouse by about a mile or two. The object was very angular, oblong and shaped oddly which is why I believe that I noticed it at all. We were used to seeing small planes, helicopters and the Goodyear Blimp flying around the peninsula. The thing I witnessed was not any of those. It did not appear as if it should be able to fly. No wings, no rotors, no jet engines (it was not disc shaped either). As I drove down the hill, I had a pretty good look at it, but it was probably about a mile or two away (as a crow flies). I have attempted to sketch what I saw in the "1-2 miles away" drawing. This first half of my sighting lasted about 15-20 seconds. Then as I was driving down the hill I lost sight of the object behind fences and houses.

Once at the bottom of the hill, I pulled my car into the Safeway parking lot and got out. I had a really good look at the thing for about another 10-15 seconds as it flew between some hills. My second sketch depicts a side view of the craft. Again, this view showed the angular construction of the object but this time it was closer. The color was dull gray. I could clearly see rectangular, opaque panels on the side of the craft. A notched cutout was visible on the bottom near the front. No lights at all were visible but again it was still very light outside. It was moving slowly at low altitude, no more than 500 ft up.

I have never submitted a report of this incident. Back when it happened, I absolutely expected that I would soon be reading about it in the newspapers. Nothing was ever reported that made the news, at least not that I saw. I am still amazed that a bunch of people did not see and report this flying object. The only thing peculiar that I can think of regarding the location of the object was that it was near the old NIKE missile site up on the hill. This NIKE site was converted and now houses city government offices. During the twenty odd years that have passed since I saw this thing, I have never seen a picture of a UFO on TV or otherwise that looks like what I saw that day.




NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that the date of the sighting is approximate. PD


Posted 2007-04-27

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