NUFORC Sighting 18730

Occurred: 1954-04-01 22:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2001-07-30 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 10 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Stanford Campus, CA, USA

Shape: Disk
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams, Changed Colo

Civil Defense plane spotter reports UFO sighting at Stanford University

This is a sighting that took place 47 years ago while a student at Stanford University. I had considerable experience as a Civil Defense plane spotter during WW2. As far as I know I was the youngest qualified observer registered. One starlit evening I drove to the University's golf coarse to get a view of the clear and beautiful star lit sky. I had a date and shortly upon arriving I witnessed this rainbow colored brightly shinning,apparent,star. I pointed to its location. We both were amazed when it took off at incredible speed and stopped instantly,then after briefly hovering headed in another directin eith right angle turns. This strange movement went back and forth but eventually headed in a North Eastern direction,where it suddenly disappeared, from its originall South Eastern point.We could not explain it. We concluded it was some government secret. Lockheed Research facility was locate 5 miles away. We thought it eminated from there. I did not believe in extra terrestrial activities at that time.I am not even certain that word was in use then.I did not give much thought to it until some years later, when I realized I witnessed an actual"UFO". The multicolored flashing circular strobe-like lights and movement eliminated any other possibility.I have not previously reported this experience but it is time. Now or never. I'm getting up there agewise.

((FOLLOW-UP CORRESPONDENCE))

Dear Peter,
Thank you for your prompt reply to my sighting. I was 22 yeas old at that time. Your first sighting followed a few months later. I enjoyed hearing that you were so young when it occurred for you. At the time of my experience I wrongly concluded that it would be announced in the next decade. No such luck and the Government is still keeping the lid on it. Perhaps the problem is they don't understand it themselves.
The object made an erratic arc in the sky from San Jose toward the San Francisco Bay Area. It seemed to scan back and forth over what is now Silicon Valley. I have thought about it a lot over the years.Recently, I imagined the UFO may have had a capacity for seeing the future and gathering our
future technology with some time travel to the future. This is really off the wall but once you witness an event like this it defies all our known physical laws and anything may be possible.

It is always good to meet a Stanford man and especially one who has spearheaded this adventurous project. It takes a lot of courage to buck the skeptics and you have succeeded admirably.

I hope we will meet. Should you visit the Bay Area please let me know.

Regards, ((name deleted))

P.S. My visual location was standing very close to where they located the
Stanford SETI site. That is rather amusing I think.

((END FOLLOW-UP

NUFORC Note:

Date is approximate. PD

Posted 2002-07-01