Case file · Close encounter
Levelland lights
Many motorists near Levelland, TX independently reported an object and vehicle-electrical failures.
1957 CE · 33.59, -102.38 · status: unexplained
The sceptical view
Ball lightning and wet-electrical faults were proposed; the pattern of independent reports keeps it unexplained.
The researched reading
Several independent drivers reported a glowing object and stalled cars on a stormy night. Storm effects and ball lightning explain parts of it, but the pattern is not fully accounted for.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A known natural phenomenon | 25% | Storms had passed through and wet ignition systems can stall engines and dim headlights; one car’s failure was traced to a faulty rotor. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 25% | Ball lightning was the Air Force’s explanation; it is poorly understood, though Hynek objected that ball lightning is not known to stop cars or last minutes. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 20% | At least several independent motorists, over hours and miles, described a glowing egg-shaped object and engine and light failures, a consistent pattern that none of the explanations fully covers. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 15% | After the first calls were broadcast, more drivers went out looking, and Sputnik 2 was launched the next day, fuelling excitement. |
| Something known, misidentified | 10% | Lightning, aircraft or vehicle lights in the storm-churned night account for some reports. |
| Secret human technology | 3% | No secret device is known to stall cars at a distance in 1957. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 2% | Separate drivers called the police on their own; a coordinated hoax is unlikely. |
Official position: Project Blue Book attributed the sightings to ball lightning or an electrical storm and the car failures to wet electrics.