A Task for Mulder and Scully? UFO Reported in Stephenville, Texas

If you live in a small town in rural Texas, chances are you have a strong opinion one way or the other in the illegal immigration debate. However if you're a resident of Stephenville, a town in Erath County in the North Central area of Texas, you may have had to contemplate a rather different sort of intruder, and one that no border fence is likely to keep out. Several dozen locals of this area claim to have seen what they believe is an unidentified flying object. Ricky Sorrells, a local machinist, claims to have seen the object several times. He came forward after learning others had also witnessed the large, metallic object. "It feels good to hear that other people saw something, because that means I'm not crazy," he said.

A pilot and freight company owner, Steve Allen, was also among the witnesses who felt strongly about the matter. He explained, according to an Associated Press article, that "People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times... It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."

Other witnesses however are more skeptical. "I'm 90 percent sure this was an airliner," said Maj. Karl Lewis, an officer in the Air Force Reserve and the spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing of the local Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth. He added, "With the sun's angle, it can play tricks on you."
A 1996 Gallup poll reported that 71 percent of Americans believed the government is covering up information regarding UFOs. Skeptics claim that many UFO sightings can be explained as natural occurrences, such as ball lightning or lenticular clouds. UFO sightings can be reported to organizations such as the Mutual UFO network, an organization dedicated to the scientific study of UFOs or the UFO Reporting Center. The latter has an index of such reports on its web site. According to its database a similar occurrence was reported as happening over seven years ago in the same area:

"Occurred : 10/15/1997 20:45 (Entered as : 10/00/97 8:45)
Reported: 12/21/2000 19:07
Posted: 2/25/2003
Location: Stephenville, TX
Shape: Circle
Duration:10 minutes Central Texas Sighting in Fall of 1997. Pulsing, single craft at EXTREME SPEEDS.

On a Fall night in 1997 I witnessed a pulsating object in the western sky. It was an extremely calm night. No wind. The object started out as a red light hovering very high in the sky. It stayed in that position for sometime. At this point it did not look suspicious. As we topped a hill, I called this object to the attention of all the members in our car. We stopped at the top and all 7 of us noticed a pulsing red light. It would also show some white pulsing. After about 10 minutes the object jumped across the sky due north. It appeared to travel at an extreme rate of speed. It burned a red light then shot across the sky. It also traveled up, way up to what seemed 40,000 feet or higher, higher than any aircraft we have spotted. It shot back at the same extreme rate of speed. The children were extremely frightened. This action did not seem reasonable for an airplane or any other known aircraft. We watched as it shot straight up and due north, then disappeared. I went outside later that night, the air was crisp and I noticed the lack of wind. I have spotted similar objects in the night sky, without the movement, always on calm nights without clouds or wind. I swear this sighting to be the truth. I am a teacher and would not have believed this had I not seen it with my own eyes. The exact date of the month I cannot recall, it was a week or so before Halloween. It started before sundown and continued for 10 to 15 minutes. Did anyone else see this? I was in central Texas and felt sure that any state west of us could have also experienced this. It was a single craft, with pulsing lights, red off and on. Very unusual. Very.

((NUFORC Note: Date in October 1997 is approximate. PD))"

Links

1. 1. Associated Press article (as of Jan 16): http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hrFLORohm1ZxTh_d9jY-Zrencj0QD8U5UV100

2. 2. Mutual UFO network: http://www.mufon.org/

3. 3. UFO Reporting Center http://www.nuforc.org/

4. 4. UFO Reporting Center previous sighting: http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/015/S15596.html