NUFORC Sighting 84925

Occurred: 1980-01-22 02:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2011-10-27 11:49 Pacific
Duration: 45 Minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Murphy/Arnold, CA, USA

Shape: Sphere
Characteristics: Emitted beams

Tracked by a UFO

Around 1980 in early winter, I was driving home from Angels Camp, California, on Highway 4 eastbound. It was around 2:00 in the morning and snowing. I was just outside of Murphy's, when I pulled over on to a large snow covered dirt shoulder to tighten my tire chains that were hitting against the wheel well of my car. As I kneeled down to tighten the rear passenger side tire chains, a bright white light flashed on me, lighting up everything around me. At first I thought it was the headlights of a vehicle coming, but noticed there wasn't one. I didn't think anything of it, but a few seconds later it happened again. This time the light stayed on, and I immediately stopped what I was doing and looked to see where it was coming from. I noticed it was coming from directly above me shining through the snow covered clouds. There was no noise and I couldn't see anything other then the beam of light shining directly on me like a spot light.

I wasn't sure what was happening. Suddenly I felt a sense of panic. I jumped back in my car and tried to get out of there as fast as I could. I was about 15 miles from home, but because it was snowing, and the roads weren't plowed, I couldn't drive any faster then 25 miles an hour. During the trip back I didn't see a single vehicle in either direction. I felt scared and alone.

When I finally got off the highway and into the subdivision where I lived, I felt a sense of relief. But when I turned the corner to go up the driveway to my house, I saw a bright light at the end of the street shining through the clouds. It looked like a really large star. But I knew this wasn't possible, because of the low cloud cover from the snow storm. I was really frightened by the sight of this. I felt like what ever it was that shinned it's light on me earlier, followed me home.

I ran into the house and immediately woke my parents to tell them what I saw. They didn't think much of it, and just wanted to go back to sleep, reassuring me that everything was okay. That night when I went up to my room I was really excited and nervous. I was so wired I couldn't sleep, and stayed up all night into the next morning.

As a side note. I lived in Arnold, California for 7 years. It's about 4000 feet above sea level on the western Sierra Nevada mountain range. Living there I experienced many snow storms. When it snows there, a thick cloud cover blankets the sky. The clouds are very low to the ground, and you can't see through them. Whatever I saw that night somehow penetrated this blanket.

NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that the date of the sighting is approximate. PD

Posted 2011-12-12