-

204898 sightings reported...
and growing

Bowie, AZ

Sighted on Tuesday 23. December 1975
Reported on
Shape: Oval | Duration: 10 Minutes
Source:

This goes back a long way to December 1975. For obvious reasons I never reported it. Traveling cross country from Houston TX, to San Diego, CA, I slept in El Paso Texas, then headed west on Route 10. About 25 or 30 miles into Arizona, I stopped to stretch my legs in the desert. The weather was exceptionally clear, stars were almost on the horizon and there was a full moon. One maybe two cars passed in the roughly 15 minutes I was there. Looking South to Southeast, I saw an array of lights just over my right shoulder, close to Zenith, slightly to the West. I listened for a sound but there was none. I first thought it might be a helicopter. Its overall shape was indeterminate except for the elliptical/oval array of lights which were sharp and distinct. There were two (2) colors of lights, evenly spaced, alternating blush red, and a sort of mercury blue. For a minute or so it was motionless, perfectly stable as I tried to make out an overall shape, determine what it was and it’s altitude. Not knowing its altitude or size I couldn’t estimate either. I guessed that the elliptical shape of lights could be circular depending on its aspect or tilt. It then moved purposefully but slightly to the North, then back just a little toward the South, and stopped. From a full stop it then instantly accelerated over the Eastern horizon in what I estimated to be about 4-5 Seconds. Its path was perfectly straight without any random motion or bobbling. I stood and waited for about a minute believing I’d hear a sonic boom but there was no sound, sonic boom or otherwise. A diffuse blue contrail was left in its flight path, perfectly illuminated by the moon. This gradually turned to very thin white puffs and disappeared. No other aircraft were in the area. I thought about what I’d seen. Thinking the Eastern mountain ranges were maybe 5K to 8K feet in altitude, it seemed to clear them by about 5K feet (estimate) so I assumed the craft was maybe at 12K-15K feet altitude. My confusion was how a craft or a missile could go from a full stop to 3 or 4 miles per second without any sound. I’m not exactly an untrained observer. For 10 years I worked on the development and launch of more than 20 rocket-borne and reconnaissance aircraft systems. After that I worked on Apollo instrumentation systems and was at the Flight Control Operations Directorate at the Johnson Space Center in Houston during Apollo 15, 16 & 17, and Skylab I, II, and III. For what it’s worth to you, there you have it. It’s been a long time, but I can visualize it as if it happened today.

comments powered by Disqus

Top 100 nearest sightings ordered by sighting date (100 miles radius):

Location Sighted on Shape Duration
Location Sighted on Shape Duration
Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA 2021-10-16 Star-like 15 minutes
San Simon, AZ 2021-10-16 Star - Like 15 Minutes
Mule Creek, New Mexico (United States) 2020-04-26 Star-like 00:03:01
Willcox, Arizona (United States) 2020-01-28 Star-like 00:03:00
Portal, Arizona (United States) 2019-12-21 Star-like 00:05:00
Thatcher, Arizona (United States) 2019-12-17 Other 00:00:05
Saint David, Arizona (United States) 2019-03-05 Circle 00:00:10
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2018-12-20 Other 00:30:00
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2018-12-20 Other 00:30:00
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2018-12-19 Other 01:00:00
Benson, Arizona (United States) 2018-08-31 Triangle 00:30:00
Lordsburg, New Mexico (United States) 2018-02-06 Star-like 00:10:00
Thatcher, Arizona (United States) 2018-01-30 Sphere 00:20:00
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2017-12-22 Circle 00:13:00
Safford, AZ, USA 2017-11-10 Orb 3 min
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2017-08-12 Sphere
Clifton, Arizona (United States) 2017-08-11 Fireball 00:03:00
Benson, AZ 2017-06-03 Light Not sure
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2017-03-17 Blimp 00:10:00
Benson (north of), AZ 2016-11-16 Light 2 minutes
Cochise County, AZ 2016-10-08 Flash seconds
Benson, AZ 2016-09-15 Rectangle 1 second
Safford, Arizona (United States) 2016-08-17 Chevron 00:00:08
Rodeo, NM 2016-06-17 Light ~3-5 minutes
Safford, AZ 2015-11-18 Light 1 minute
Pearce, AZ 2015-11-07 Sphere 20 minutes
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2015-03-24 Other Undisclosed
Benson, Arizona (United States) 2015-03-13 Unknown 00:10:00
Duncan, AZ 2015-02-23 Light 4 seconds
Willcox, Arizona (United States) 2015-01-21 Star-like Undisclosed
Cascabels (near), AZ 2014-11-01 Disk 5-10
Willcox, Arizona (United States) 2014-11-01 Triangle 00:00:10
McNeal, Arizona (United States) 2014-09-09 Boomerang Undisclosed
Southwest desert, AZ 2014-09-01 Triangle 5 minutes
Southwest desert, AZ 2014-09-01 Triangle 5 minutes
Pima, AZ 2014-06-23 Fireball 45 minutes
Pima, AZ 2014-06-23 Fireball 45 minutes
Tombstone, AZ 2014-05-25 Circle 30 seconds
Tombstone, AZ 2014-05-25 Circle 30 seconds
Lordsburg, NM 2014-04-15 Cylinder 15 minutes
Benson, AZ 2014-04-13 Formation 5-10 minutes
Rodeo, NM 2014-04-08 Light ~1 minute
Duncan, AZ 2014-03-29 Circle 5 minutes
Thatcher, AZ 2014-02-02 Circle 1.5 minutes
Safford, AZ 2013-08-18 Circle ~2 minutes
Safford, AZ 2013-06-19 Light 20-30 seconds
Safford, AZ 2013-04-28 Circle 30-40 minutes
Safford, AZ 2012-12-20 Other 1 hour
Safford, AZ 2012-11-29 Light 5 minutes
Safford, AZ 2012-07-25 Fireball 10 seconds
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2012-05-20 Sphere, Star-like 00:10:00
McNeal, Arizona (United States) 2012-02-10 Saturn-like, Star-like Undisclosed
Duncan, AZ 2011-11-08 Light 20 seconds
Morenci, Arizona (United States) 2011-10-05 Flash, Star-like Undisclosed
Safford, Arizona (United States) 2011-04-24 Other 00:00:02
Benson, AZ 2011-04-17 Light 7minutes
Benson, AZ 2011-03-30 Fireball 2-3 seconds
Benson, Arizona (United States) 2011-03-16 Square, Rectagular, Other 00:04:00
Safford, AZ 2011-02-15 Flash 30 minutes
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2010-10-17 Boomerang, Oval Undisclosed
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2010-09-30 Other Undisclosed
Safford, AZ 2010-09-28 Unknown 5 minutes
Benson, Arizona (United States) 2010-04-18 Circle, Diamond, Star-like, Other, Unknown Undisclosed
Thatcher, Arizona (United States) 2009-12-08 Other Undisclosed
Benson, Arizona (United States) 2009-10-26 Oval, Unknown Undisclosed
Lordsburg (east of), NM 2009-01-20 Rectangle 45 min.
Lordsburg, AZ 2008-10-28 Sphere 2 mins.
Willcox, AZ 2008-06-21 Flash 2 min
Benson, AZ 2008-03-26 Triangle 20 MINUTES
Safford, AZ 2008-01-07 Cross 15 minutes
Benson, Arizona (United States) 2007-11-15 Other 00:05:00
Safford, AZ 2007-05-30 Fireball 5 minutes
Cochise, Arizona (United States) 2007-02-28 Sphere Undisclosed
Chiricahua National Monument, AZ 2005-09-19 Sphere Unknown
Dragoon, AZ 2005-09-19 Light At least 3-5 Minutes from
Willcox, AZ 2005-07-31 Oval 1-2 minutes
Safford, AZ 2005-06-19 Disk
Safford, Arizona (United States) 2005-06-19 Disc Undisclosed
Tombstone, Arizona (United States) 2005-02-28 Triangle, Unknown 00:00:01
Benson, AZ 2005-02-04 Light 30 sec
Hot Springs, Arizona (United States) 2004-11-30 Cigar Undisclosed
Bowie, AZ 2004-09-23 Disk 1 hr. 28 mins. recorded
Safford, AZ 2004-05-05 Fireball 6 seconds
San Jose, Arizona (United States) 2002-01-01 Circle Undisclosed
Benson, AZ 2001-03-15 Cigar 15 secs.
Pima, AZ 2000-10-05 Other
Rim Rock, AZ 2000-07-12 Circle 17 minutes
Pima, AZ 2000-02-07 Fireball 5 min
Tombstone, AZ 1999-05-18 Egg 20 minutes
Tombstone, AZ 1999-05-18 Egg 20 minutes
Chirichua Mountains, AZ 1998-07-15 Circle 10-15 Minutes
Wilcox, AZ 1997-06-28 Cylinder 2 hours
St. David, AZ 1997-02-28 Oval abt 1 hour
Safford, AZ 1996-10-01 Sphere 30 sec.
Safford (Outside of, Mt. Graham), AZ 1995-09-22 Unknown Unknown
Wilcox, AZ 1995-09-18 1 min.
Safford, AZ 1994-07-15 Sphere 20 Min.
Clifton, Arizona (United States) 1990-05-31 Boomerang, Triangle Undisclosed
Klondyke, AZ 1988-03-15 Cone 12
Bowie, AZ 1982-06-15 Disk 5 minutes