User:Jgreenhi/sandbox
| Date | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Location | Stephenville, Texas, United States |
| Coordinates | 32°13′13″N 98°12′49″W / 32.22028°N 98.21361°W |
Stephenville UFO Incident
[edit]On January 8th, 2008, multiple reports were made of mysterious lights hovering in the skies over Stephenville, Texas. The Stephenville UFO incident was a widely publicized event, receiving coverage from both local and national news outlets. The United States Air Force eventually took responsibility for the sightings, stating the UFO sightings were a result of ten F-16 fighter jets conducting a training mission[1].
The sighting is considered notable due to the length of the sighting, the number of witnesses, and the inclusion of radar evidence.
Events
[edit]Between 6:00 and 9:30 PM CST, between 40 and 200 witnesses, which included pilots and police officers, reported seeing lights of varying colours and sizes above the town of Stephenville, which is roughly 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, Texas[2][3].
The first reported sighting occurred around 6:00 PM CST near the town of Selden, Texas, which lies eight miles southeast of Stephenville. A resident of Selden reported flashing lights that were moving in a northwesterly direction. The resident also reported that the flashing lights were followed by two F-16 fighter jets[4].
Between the initial sighting and 9:30 PM CST, multiple flashing lights were witnessed by residents of both Dublin and Stephenville Texas[5]. Descriptions of the object varied by witnesses. Some witnesses described a cigar shaped object, while other witnesses descriped a triangular shaped object[6]. The majority of witnesses perceived the object to be very large, with one witness describing the object as being at least a mile long[2]. Larry King, on his television show Larry King Live, interviewed private pilot Steve Allan, who described the object as being over a half a mile long and travelling at a speed close to 3,000 MPH[7].
Numerous photographs and videos were taken of the object(s), however, no clear image of the craft has ever been released.
The United States military initially denied their involvement in the incident, stating they had no aircraft in the area during the time of the sightings. This statement was later retracted on Jan 23rd, 2008, when the United States Air Force released a statement claiming the UFO sightings were a result of ten F-16 fighter jet that were dropping flares during a training exercise. This explanation came under criticism for failing to explain the radar evidence gathered by MUFON that captured objects travelling at high speeds[5].
Media Interest
[edit]The incident received news coverage from ABC, Fox News, and CNN, and was broadcast internationally in England, Canada, and Japan[4].
On January 18th, Larry King dedicated a portion of his show, Larry King Live, to the events of Stephenville Texas. The program consisted of interviews with several witnesses, and physicist and ufo researcher Stanton T. Friedman[7]. King interviewed pilot Steve Allen who stated the object was "about a half a mile wide and about a mile long. It was humongous, whatever it was.[7]"
The incident was also portrayed on the History Channel's UFO Hunters, as part of the episode entitled “Invasion Texas”. The UFO Hunters team corroborated video, talked with witnesses, and recreated the location of the object by triangulating its approximate location using lasers and a balloon. The UFO Hunters team concluded that the witnesses were all observig the same object[6].
Air Force Response
[edit]The United States Air Force originally released a statement that declared they had no aircraft in the area of Stephenville at the time of the sighting. This response, which left the incident unexplained, led to an increase in media attention.
On January 23rd, 2008, the United States Air Force retracted their initial statement and claimed, due to a mix up of information, that there were training exercises being conducted near the town of Stephenville. They released a statement on January 23rd which stated "Ten F-16s from the 457th Fighter Squadron were performing training operations from 6 to 8 pm on Jan. 8 in the Brownwood Military Operations Area [MOA], which includes the airspace above Erath County" [4]. Part of this training exercise included the dropping of flares near Stephenville, Texas[4].
Radar Evidence
[edit]The Stephenville, Texas, ufo incident is notable due to the inclusion of radar evidence collected from multiple sources. Under the Hynek scale, it falls under the Radar-Visual category. Radar information from 5 different locations was obtained through freedom of information requests that showed the location of all air traffic in the Stephenville area between 4 - 8 pm[5]. This evidence indicated the presence of multiple unknown objects in and around the airspace of Stephenville. One of the objects was tracked on radar displaying speeds of up to 2100 mph. The military transcripts regarding the unknown radar signatures have been heavily redacted. No explanation has been given for the unknown radar signatures.
In Popular Media
[edit]This incident has been covered by Larry King Live. It was also the focus of an investigation by the History Channel's UFO Hunters.
See Also
[edit]- ^ "UFOs? Nope. They were fighter jets, Air Force says - CNN.com". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
- ^ a b "The Stephenville Lights - dozens of credible witnesses report seeing glowing orbs in the Texas sky - Altered Dimensions Paranormal". Altered Dimensions Paranormal. https://plus.google.com/113047413293371455884/posts. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "UFO Sighting Stephenville Tx, Giant UFO a Mile Long, Multiple Witnesses". www.educatinghumanity.com. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
{{cite web}}: Text "Educating Humanity" ignored (help) - ^ a b c d "UFO Myths: A Special Investigation into Stephenville and Other Major Sightings". Popular Mechanics. https://plus.google.com/+PopularMechanics/posts. 2009-12-18. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ a b c Schulze, Glen. "Stephenville Lights: A Comprehensive Radar and Witness Report Study Regarding the events of January 8, 2008" (PDF). Mufon.com. Muffin.
- ^ a b Invasion Texas [Television series episode]. (2008, April 9). In UFO Hunters. History Channel.
- ^ a b c "CNN.com - Transcripts". transcripts.cnn.com. Retrieved 2015-12-06.