Part 37 (2/2)

The first signal of sohts went out; then the engine stopped Before Saucedo could hit the starter again he glanced over his left shoulder A huge ball of fire was ”rapidly drifting” toward the truck Without a second's hesitation Saucedo did what the Korean War had taught him to do when in doubt, he shoved open the car door and hit the dirt

Salaz just sat

”The 'Thing' passed directly over reat sound and rush of wind,” Saucedo later told County Sheriff Weir Clem, after he'd started his truck and had driven back to Levelland ”It sounded like thunder and my truck rocked fro,” which disappeared across the prairie, looked like a ”fiery tornado”

Five years before and a little east of where Saucedo and Salaz were ”buzzed” I had talked to tomen who described almost an identical UFO And it remains ”unknown” to this day

In Levelland, the two h to keep Sheriff Cleht but between the hours of 8:15PM and ” struck five , a Waco truck driver, came upon ”it” four miles west of Levelland and fainted as it roared over his truck Ronald Martin, another truck driver, was stopped east of Levelland, as was Newell Wright, a Texas Tech student Jim Wheeler, Jose Alvarez and Frank Williams added their stories to the melee

All of those who had been attacked told Sheriff Cle like an egg standing on end

It was fiery red,and was about 200 feet in the air When it cao out”

”Everyone,” Sheriff Cleht everyone in West Texas saw UFO's Sheriff Clehway patrolrove and Floyd Cavin reported sihts at the same time but from a different location The control tower operators at the Aaseous object which moved swiftly and left an amber trail”

There were dozens ht in Levelland

But unbeknown to Sheriff Clem or the residents of West Texas, they weren't alone on the visitor's list

At 2:30AM on Sunday ”

raised havoc around Levelland, an ar the supersecret White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico

Here is their report as they gave it to Air Force UFO investigators:

”At approxiether with PFC ------, were on a routine patrol of the up range area of the White Sands Proving Ground when Source noticed a 'very bright' object high in the sky This object slowly descended to an altitude estimated to be approximately 50 yards where it remained round where the light went out

The object was not blurred or fuzzy, emitted no vapor or smoke The object was in view for about 10 minutes, and Source estimated that it was approximately 2 or 3 miles away It was estimated to be between 75 and 100 yards in dia Source stated that it was as large as a grapefruit held at ar and windy, and Source stated no stars were visible After the light went out Source and PFC ------ continued north to the STALLION SITE CAMP and reported the incident to the Sergeant of the Guard who returned to the area but failed to find anything”

The flap was on

On Monday, the 4th, the ”Levelland Thing” struck again near the White Sands Proving Ground Jaineer, had the engine of his new Mercury stopped as ”a brilliant, egg-shaped” object hway As it went over, Stokes said, ”it felt like the radiation of a giant sun lamp”

Stokes said there were ten other carloads of people stopped but if this is true no one ever found out who they were

The Air Force wrote off Stokes' story as, ”Hoax, presuested by the Levelland, Texas, reports”

Maybe the Air Force didn't believe Jao_ radioed in their report froan to turn--fast

On Tuesday o_ was about 200 miles south of theAt 5:10AM her radar picked up a target off to the left at a distance of about 14unusual because they were under heavily traveled air lanes

The early roup of officers and et, with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm, it ain A few of the men noticed that the turn looked ”a little different,” but this early in the ht