NUFORC Sighting 16938

Occurred: 1976-02-14 18:00 Local
Reported: 2001-03-20 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Memphis, TN, USA

Shape: Disk
Characteristics: Lights on object, Changed Colo

Mothership Sighting over Memphis Tennesee on February 14, 1976

In February 1976, I was enroute from San Francisco to New Jersey to work on constructing a nuclear power plant. I am a graduate civil engineer and I was employed as an upper level engineer by an international engineering-construction company who had transferred me from the Trans Alaska Pipeline to this nuclear power project in New Jersey. I was on the interstate bridge that crossed the Mississippi River driving east near sunset on Saturday, February 14, 1976, in Memphis, Tennessee. This was the first time I had seen the Mississippi River. As I was taking in the sights, I noticed a large "structure" in the distance that was slowly revolving and had slowly pulsing lights, much like a communication tower but it was too broad, it was rotating and it had multi-colored pulsing lights. That caught my eye. I was looking east at the "structure" away from the sunset so it was hard to see the mass of the "structure". The portion of the "structure" I could see was about a thousand feet above the ground. The "structure" (defined by a dim outline and the pulsing lights) made a precise vertical rise of an estimated 200-300 hundred feet and then a precise vertical descent of about the same distance. At this point I was straining to see what supported this "structure" that was making this precise movement. I could not see any mass or structural support under the portion defined by the dim outline of the "objec's" mass and the pulsing lights. I realized then this was not a "structure" but it was an "object" and there was nothing supporting it. It then began an exact horizontal movement to the west for a few hundred feet and then an exact horizontal movement to the east. I decided to get off the interstate and get directly underneath the "object" to get a better look at it and to confirm to myself there was no structural support from the ground. As I was exiting the interstate, the "object" began an exact horizontal move to the west. The"objec" moved slowly at first, then accelerated at an astonishing rate of speed toward the west until it disappeared from sight. The sun was still visible in the west. The speed of its departure was so quick that I was still on the exit ramp while watching it disappear in the distance. I heard no sound from its departure nor did I see any evidence of propulsion devices. I later performed a calculation to estimate the average speed at which the "object" departed. I estimate that the time it took to travel from a standstill until it disappeared from sight in the west was at least 2 seconds but not more than 4 seconds. The visibility was at least 100 miles and probably more. That means the AVERAGE speed the "object" traveled in this distance was at least 90,000 mph and possibly 180,000 mph. If the visibility was 200 miles, these speeds would be doubled to 180,000 mph minimum and possibly 360,000 mph. Description of "object" The mass of the "object"; was difficult to see when I was viewing it in the east and it departed so quickly that I only viewed the mass for a few seconds. However, this is what I saw. The "object"; was disc shaped. I estimate its girth at 300-400 feet. The thickness at the middle of the disc was around 100 feet. I believe the "object"; to be circular at its girth as it was slowly rotating without any change in its outline. It had multi-colored slowly pulsing lights (yellow, green, and red) on its girth and elsewhere on the mass. I continued traveling on the interstate for a few more hours and spent the night a couple of hundred miles east of Memphis, Tennessee. I could not obtain a copy of any of the Memphis newspapers to find out if the sighting was reported and published. I have not been back to Memphis since then, but I always hoped to be able to return there some day and research the archive newspapers to read about the sighting. With the advent of the Internet, I performed a search for UFO sightings on the 2/14/76 date to see if someone else had witnessed and recorded the sighting. The only information I found was about a UFO Crash near Cubatao River, Brazil 2/14/76 recorded by ((a well-known UFO investigator)). At the rate of speed I observed the "object" to be capable of traveling, it could very easily have traveled from Memphis to Brazil in a few minutes. I tried to find out more information about the crash in Brazil but to date I have been unsuccessful. I certainly would appreciate a response from anyone who (or knows of anyone who) experienced the Memphis, Tennessee UFO, or who knows about the Brazil UFO crash. I hope to hear from someone.

Posted 2001-04-01

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