NUFORC Sighting 20003

Occurred: 1977-06-15 01:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2001-10-29 00:00 Pacific
Duration:


Location: Barstow, CA, USA

Shape:


I am a 55-year-old male with no ambitions of notoriety and certainly not a prankster of any kind. I simply feel the story I have to tell should be discovered by those who study such things (in a scientific way). You see I feel it might be important because "it's different ". What I saw and the way I saw it, seems not to bear any similarity to all the other things I've ever heard about sightings in the general media. It's not a subject I study; moreover, what I know is not material. WHAT HAPPENED WAS REAL!

It happened over twenty years ago in 1977 as my son (then about 10) and I were traveling by car from Alabama to California. I'm sure I might have been tired, for I had made that 2,000 mile trip many times over the years, but never without getting tired somewhat. No, I wasn't " dreaming " or " hallucinating " or anything likes that. With the experience I had making that trip, I knew when to rest and never to push myself to such a dangerous degree of instability; remember I HAD MY SON WITH ME.

It must have been after midnight, as we were fifteen miles north of Barstow. I was driving a moderate speed of 50-55. It was one of those beautiful nights of perfect weather. The stars were bright without a single visible cloud in the sky, unlike the soon to be Los Angeles. Being more reminiscent of my birth home in Alabama, I was particularly alert with my surroundings. Enjoying it all with my driver's side window down; not knowing if I might ever see such a perfect night again. The silhouette of the far off mountain range was very visible against the sky. Even the nearer hillsides were visible with the outlines of trees and shrubbery. THEN IT HAPPENED!

To my left I noticed the frontal approach light of an airplane. Advancing from a ninety-degree angle, the light was pretty bright. I know the distance of approach lights can be very deceiving in the night sky, but this light was near. I had worked on the flight line and runway while in the Air Force and I had observed this very distinctive look many times at night. It was much the same kind of light anyone might see around an airport except this one seemed to be heading straight for us. The stars shone bright under and all around " it " as there wasn't a single cloud for reflection. " The light " was definitely airborne. I could see it was descending, as the space between “it” and the mountain range grew narrower. Was it a private plane landing at a private runway? Was it a helicopter? Is there an airport near? Where are the ground approach lights? It seemed to quietly get nearer and nearer as I could detect no sound while it continued to descend. With the relation of " it's " speed to mine plus perceived distance, whether illusion or not, " the light " appeared to be on A COLLISION COURSE WITH ME!

Not acting irrational, but with an instinct of self-preservation, I began to rapidly slow down. Glancing down at the speedometer, it was showing 20- 25 miles per hour. Looking back to my left, " the light " appeared as though it had slowed down its descent. My perception was that “the light” and I were about to reach the same place at the same time! I shifted and gave it the gas! The fuel-injected sports car I was driving was fast. As I glanced down again, I saw I was doing 80. When I looked back at " the Light ", I was shocked. " The Light " had sped up! Definitely on the same collision course as if it was
"locked-in" or using me in some way. In the next moment, "the light" dropped below the outline of the horizon and reached ground zero. In the rough terrain approximately fifty yards from me, just over the other side of the road, " the Light " made a ninety degree left turn while traveling exactly 80 miles per hour. It was now moving parallel to me at the exact same speed. " The light " illuminated forward no more than about twenty feet, while lighting up the closest shrubbery in front of the it. There was now the outline of an object behind "the Light ". The rounded cigar shaped object could have been anywhere from twenty to fifty feet in height, for I could not determine how far the terrain might dip below the adjoining roadside. There were six to eight small square windows visible down the near side with even spacing. Each window had an off-white lightning, much the same as you might see from your own house while outside at night. Toward the front of the craft, there were two obstruction type lights, one red and one blue/green. I was unable to see any outline of the rear of the craft; but what I could see, covered about fifty linear feet. The object now made a distinctive sound like I've heard before. It was the sound of a turbine. A turbine and jet engine may sound similar to some but as I have been around both many times, there is a distinct difference. After it traveled along side of me about a half mile, it began to slow. It appeared to be stopping as I KEPT DOING 80!

After traveling another five miles down the road, I felt I must have been nearing the outskirts of Barstow. I could see an industrial plant or factory up ahead. The lit blaze of a tower or smokestack was very evident yet over a mile away. It looked no different than what most people may have seen around such factories. I believe I've heard it referred to as a" Burn-off ". As I drove nearer, I could see there was more than one stack or tower. Behind one blaze was another blaze. Closer to the blazes it started to become apparent that something seemed strange. There were no stacks or towers beneath the blazes. The stars and sky were the only things between the blazes and the hillside. Even closer now, the blazes began to take on a definite shape. They were round; they were perfectly round, like " fireballs ". After arriving parallel to the " fireballs ". I decided to stop and observe. There was a convenient clearing to the right of the road. The clearing was large enough to allow me to back in and observe comfortably. Seemingly five hundred yards or so off the road and perhaps one to two hundred yards above the ground, still shining and flickering above the horizon outline with stars beneath them, were three " fireballs " of the same diameter, at equal spacing from each other, appearing to be of equal distance from the ground. One would extinguish or go out and then come back on. Then another would do the same, but with no apparent pattern to length of time for staying off or on; never knowing which one would one would go out next. Could these be flares of some kind? Was this some kind of military exercise? After all, some kind of craft just landed back up the road. But what kind of craft could make a ninety-degree turn at 80 miles per hour? Especially not straight at someone like that thing did to me, right? We could have been killed! The strangest thing about these " fireballs " to me was the way they would always be in the same place when they came back on. Never changing in height above the ground or distance apart, they always maintained the same diameter and perfect round shape. They certainly couldn't be swamp gas. They had to be controlled by an intelligence of some kind. What kind of technology would it take to control these things the way THEY WERE BEING CONTROLLED?

After observing almost an hour, I believed I wasn't going to see anything any different. Leaving the strange lights, I drove on to our destination without further incidents, except for one thought----right before seeing " the light ", I remember seeing the headlights of another automobile in my rearview mirror about three-quarters of a mile behind me. From then until I stopped to observe the " fireballs ", I saw no turn-off on that road. You know, that car never did catch up to me. . . . .

Posted 2001-11-20

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