![]() ![]() Though each balloon was nearly 90 miles from Lubbock, their reflected sunlight appeared brighter than any star and prompted a flood of calls to emergency operators and the National Weather Service office in Lubbock. The two 400-foot-diameter balloons were at an altitude of 115,000 to 117,000 feet and were launched by Columbia Scientific in Fort Sumner, N.M., as part of a NASA experiment. Residents across the South Plains and Panhandle took to social media, sharing photos and theories.Īs the Avalanche-Journal reported at the time, the two bright lights in the sky to the northwest of Lubbock were high-altitude research balloons near Canyon and Clovis, N.M., according to the National Weather Service in Lubbock. ![]() 23, 2011, when two silvery, shining orbs glimmered in the sunset on a Friday evening, raising questions from folks from Lubbock to Amarillo and points in between.Ĭalls and messages poured into the Avalanche-Journal newsroom, reporting the mysterious objects. While technically explainable and quite terrestrial-based in nature, occasional research balloon sightings on the High Plains have created brief UFO frenzies in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.Ī well-documented case of a balloon release prompting UFO reports came on Sept. Uncovering the Panhandle's Mystery Objects It’s also a possibility that it’s more frequent in Lubbock due to less light pollution and obstructions in the sky. While there are no established theories that suggest UFO sightings occur more frequently in Lubbock than other parts of the state, some experts suggest that a higher proportion of Lubbock residents may be more inclined to believe in UFOs and report them, after the Lubbock Lights encounter. Dozens of others shared similar experiences that night, but Air Force investigators claimed it to be a rare phenomenon called “ball lightning,” debunking the widespread UFO theory. In 1957, one alleged witness, who was driving near Levelland, said he saw a bright flash of blue light before his truck engine sputtered, then died, as they felt something pass overhead, according to KAMC. when one person wrote “fireballs seen in the sky” and another wrote “hovering glowing objects, strategically line up and travel west” for five to two minutes.Īlthough, in some of the more dramatic cases, their encounters were closer, such as in the instance of one person who wrote, in August 2021 that a “saucer-shaped craft surrounded by pulsating, expanding and contracting white and green light followed me (for about 30 minutes) and wanted me to see it.” Many describe a “V-shaped object” with several dim lights” or a “triangle-shaped object.” Several occurrences had multiple reports, including one instance on Feb. Since 1998, Lubbock had more than 50 reported sightings. One witness stated there were “blinking lights but not a place” for about three minutes on March 18 in Wolfforth, while another stated they saw a “v shape formation with 5 lights traveling low and fairly slow” for about five seconds on Jan. ![]() So far this year, only one two have been reported in the Lubbock area. “They run off two batteries that are 14.8 volts each - so a little stronger than the battery in your car.”īut data shows West Texas accounts for nearly half of Texas’ reported UFO sightings since the 1990s. “"It's six electric motors that are all connected together with stabilization electronics running through the,” Kris Barton told KCBD. That was the case with a sighting in 2012 it turned out to be an object that its owner describes as a multi-rotor, which allowed him to take aerial photos for his company, Swing Wing Productions. According to the National UFO Reporting Center database, witnesses have reported nearly 60 sightings since 1995. Lubbock’s UFO Legacyīeyond the most famous of Lubbock’s UFO reports, the city is a hot spot for UFO encounters. This week, we’re covering the UFO sightings from Abilene to the Panhandle. But it’s only one of dozens- if not hundreds - of reported UFO sightings in West Texas.Īs part of our Weird West Texas series, we explore some of the most odd, eccentric and just plain weird things in our region - from the state's northernmost town of Hitchland down into the Big Country, westward to the Permian Basin and all the way into the Rolling Plains. This phenomenon, dubbed the Lubbock Lights - which remains unsolved more than 70 years later - is one of the most well-known UFO sightings in our nation’s history. In the following weeks, residents from across the city reported similar sightings, describing groups of glowing lights flying low and fast and abruptly changing direction. It was a warm summer evening in 1951 when three professors from Texas Technological College saw a group of strange lights moving in a V-formation across the sky over Lubbock. ![]()
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