NUFORC Sighting 17554

Occurred: 1970-02-10 20:30 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2001-05-08 00:00 Pacific
Duration: app. 10 min
No of observers: 2

Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA

Shape: Disk
Characteristics: Lights on object

I sighted a disc shaped object hovering above the trees in a residential area of southwest Los Angeles in early 1970

My sighting took place in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area of Los Angeles in February of 1970. While traveling north on LaBrea Avenue, coming down the hill toward Coliseum Ave, I saw very bright lights, resembling lights in a stadium, but they appeared to be too high up to be from a stadium (there was no stadium in that area.) These lights seemed odd so the driver of the car decided to investigate. We went in their direction into a residential area that was on the north west side of Rodeo Rd and LaBrea Avenue. I'm not possitive of the exact location because I was new to Los Angeles at that time and didn't know the area well. I did, however, know LaBrea and Rodeo Rd intersection. When we approached the area that seemed to be the source of the lights we traveled down a residential street that had a "T" intersection. As we approached this intersection, and turned right, our car headlights turned toward a very large object hovering above the tree tops and electric wire poles. As our lights turned toward this object, it flashed two lights back at us as if signaling back in response to our headlights shining toward it. This object was at the corner of this intersection and was large enough to cover the full width of the street as well as part of the house nearest that corner. We immediately drove under it, which enabled me to see the bottom. The bottom was a light color that appeared to be either sand color or a light beige and it had the appearance of a wheel with a hub and spokes radiating from it, so my assumption is that it was disc shaped. These "spokes" appeared to be dimensional rather than painted and at the center was a light that was red when we passed under. I couldn't determine the actual shape of the top because it was very dark outside, and I couldn't see the outline due to the bright lights that flashed back at us. I assumed that the lights were on the front of the vehicle but cannot say if there were other lights. This object made absolutely no sound and was completely motionless when we encountered it. We drove under it, pulled over to the side of the street just beyond it, at which time the driver of the car became hysterical because she recoginzed it to be a UFO. I wanted to get out to have a better look but the passenger side of the door was jammed due to a previous accident and wouldn't open. I could not get the driver to move to let me out. By the time she pulled herself together, started the car engine and made a U-turn to head back in the direction of the UFO, it was gone. It made no sound when it moved off. I don't know whether it moved sideways or straight up but it must have taken off at a fast speed because the whole episode seemed to be very brief. When we reached the corner where it had been hovering, I tried to look in the sky and spot it. I did see lights in the far distance, west of our location, and at the time I assumed these lights could have been the object. In retrospect I cannot say for certain. It may have moved sidways, up or it may have vanished. I don't know. About a week or two after this event, while returning home from evening school in downtown Los Angeles, I was a passenger riding on the Santa Monica Freeway, heading west of downtown. Needless to say, I was watching the skys trying to see this object again. I did see a bright stationary light in the sky, to the left of the freeway in the area of Normandie or Western Avenue and south of the freeway. As I looked at it, wondering if this was the same UFO, the light "winked out." It was like someone turning off a light and then there was nothing. The day after my initial sighting, the driver of the car and I called several places, including Goodyear just to confirm it was not a blimp we had seen, although we knew it wasn't. Also, it was not a helicopter, as you can hear them a mile away. Goodyear confirmed that no blimps had been in the air at all because of the wind conditions. The car driver called an office of the Air Force and was told they knew nothing. Upon making further calls she was told this was a vehicle being tested by Hughes Aircraft, and that the neighborhood had been notified. This was 1970 and to my knowledge we had no vehicles that were shaped like this or that could perform in this manner. To date, we still don't unless they are really more secret than some of the black projects. I got a pretty good look at the bottom side of this UFO as we drove under and there were no wings or apendages that I could see and it was totally silent and motionless until it moved away from the area.

NUFORC Note:

Date is approximate. PD

Posted 2001-08-05