NUFORC Sighting 32598

Occurred: 1963-07-02 19:30 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2003-10-23 10:56 Pacific
Duration: 15 -20 min
No of observers: 0

Location: Tucson, AZ, USA

Shape: Other
Characteristics: Left a trail

Large blimp like object 1960's

I am currently in my middle 50's and not a believer that we are being visited by beings from elsewhere. As an amateur astronomer, I did volunteer work for the US Naval Observatory back in the late 60's. This was in the early days of satellite before many precise measurements could be made from orbit. My groups function, as ground based telescope observers, was to precisely time star occultation's, for the most part as they disappeared and reappeared behind the moon. Just some background on my 'observing' experience.

My sighting was not during these exercises but during an outing to a drive-in theater. It was still light out and I was biding time waiting for it to be dark enough for the movies to begin. Above and to the left of the screen I noticed an object (I would place it as North, North - West, to the left of the Mt. Lemmon/Catalina range as you face it from north/west Tucson and about 30 deg. above the horizon) I can best describe as blimp shaped but somewhat narrower, pointed ends, silver in color but I don't recall it as being reflective, NO protrusions such as the cabin or fins that a blimp would have. I first thought that it was some kind of experimental weather balloon but I noticed two other factors that didn't fit that profile.

The first was a cloud looking trail, long and snake like but detached from the object as if the object had stopped or stalled where it now was. The observance of the trail (white/gray colored) lead me to the second observation of the object, neither the trail or the object were moving much if at all. Now I'm starting to realize how distant in height and large this object is. My estimate is maybe three football fields in length although it is very difficult to estimate since there weren't any nearby objects to compare it to. The object and the trail seemed to stay pretty much in the same position for the next 15 minutes of so. There was a noticeable but slow drift and change in the trail during this time.

During that time, I took advantage of other witnesses in the car next to me. I remember there being at least three people in that vehicle, a convertible. I asked them what they thought the object was. I still remember the reply clearly, a fellow sitting in the front seat starred again at the object and said "I'll tell you what, I'm in the Air Force and it's nothing that I have ever seen" (Tucson as you know is the home of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base). This was great confirmation that my imagination wasn't playing tricks on me.

I hated to loose sight of the object but before it was totally dark, I wanted to make my way the snack bar and use the pay phone to call the newspaper and ask if there were any reports coming in. They didn't even seem to comprehend my question so I didn't get very far in that direction. It really made me wonder if they were playing dumb! Here this object was in plain sight, dozens of people just at the drive-in could observe it, surely you would think the newspaper would have some reports. Maybe I just called too soon or just got the wrong individual.

As I went back to read your archives to see if there were any related sightings, another report brought back something I had observed some years earlier although not really a UFO sighting. as a preteen/teenager in Tucson , I use to make an almost daily trek from my home to the nearby drugstore. The route took me through a small area of undeveloped property (desert vegetation), a route I knew with my eyes closed. On one trip to the store (1959-61?) I couldn't help noticing a round area where all the cactus and shrubs had been smashed to the ground, a perfectly round area. Not a very large area maybe 10ft. I also noticed some tracks, each track mark had three indentations as if a foot with three pads or toes. I'm fuzzy on the space between the tracks, could have been two feet or more apart but I'm not sure I remember the actual spacing. Could be rabbit tracks or... well I'm not much for recognizing animal tracks, I'll leave that to someone else.

End report.

NUFORC Note:

Dates of two incidents are approximate. PD

Posted 2003-10-31