"Impact" Rating = 13
"Credibility" Rating = 13
"Expert" Rating = 8
"Strangeness" Rating = 6
On 25 August 1951, several college professors from
Part of the “Lubbock Lights” sightings.
This incident is Case 31 in Isaac Koi's "Top 100" article, since it was referred to in 66 of the books covered by that article.
This incident featured in the results of a survey in 1965 by Jacques Vallee of the opinion of various UFO groups as to the most significant UFO sightings.
Isaac Koi’s “ICES” Rating for this sighting = 8,112 (out of a potential score of 14*14*14*14 i.e. 38,416)
(1) “Impact” Rating of 13 (out of a potential score of 14), because it is Case 31 in Isaac Koi's "Top 100" article.
(2) “Credibility” Rating of 13 (out of a potential score of 14) because the relevant professors are highly credible witnesses. The debate regarding their sightings has centered on what was actually seen.
(2) “Expert” Rating of 8 (out of a potential score of 14). It is given this slightly above average rating because (at the time of writing) it has not been included in any of the short lists of the best cases produced by various UFO researchers that have been compiled by Isaac Koi (see the “Best UFO Cases" article at PART 3: Existing lists by various individuals) but did feature in the results of a survey in 1965 by Jacques Vallee of the opinion of various UFO groups as to the most significant UFO sightings.
(4)“Strangeness” Rating of 6 (out of a potential score of 14). The sighting has a relatively low strangeness rating since there is relatively limited evidence to be explained as to the nature of the objects seen. Several researchers have suggested mundane explanations, particularly birds reflecting lights.
Sections below:
Carl Hart:
Relevant college professors from
Web Resources
For links to relevant articles and documents online, see:
http://www.ufocasebook.com/lubbocklights.html
Wikipedia article at : Lubbock Lights sightings (1951)
This incident is discussed on the AboveTopSecret.com (“ATS”) internet discussion forums in Thread 327015.{text}
Book References
For discussion of the Lubbock Lights sightings see the following:
|
Year |
Discussion by:
|
No. of Pages |
|
Arnold, Kenneth and Palmer, Ray in their “The Coming of the Saucers” (1952) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 192 (in Chapter 13) of the Amherst softcover edition. |
1 |
|
|
Baker, Alan in his “Sci-Fi Channel: True Life Encounters: UFO Sightings” (1997) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 20-21 (in Chapter 1) of the Orion softcover edition. |
2 |
|
|
Bennett, Colin in his “Looking for Orthon” (2001) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 57 (in Chapter 4) of the Paraview softcover edition. |
1 |
|
|
Birnes, William in his “The UFO Magazine UFO Encyclopedia” (2004) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 193 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock Lights”) of the Pocket Books softcover edition. |
1 |
|
|
Briazack, Norman and Mennick, Simon in their “The UFO Guidebook” (1978) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 124-126 (in the entry entitled “Lubbock Lights”) of the Citadel softcover edition. |
3 |
|
|
Brookesmith, Peter in his “UFO: The Complete Sightings Catalogue” (1995) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 53 (in Chapter 3) of the BCA hardback edition (with the same page numbering in the Blitz hardback edition, and in the Barnes & Noble hardback edition published under the title “UFO: The Complete Sightings”). |
1 |
|
|
Bryan, C D B in his “Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Alien Abduction, UFOs, and the Conference at MIT” (1995) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 111-112 (in Chapter 4) of the Weidenfeld & Nicolson hardback edition (with the same page numbering in the Knopf hardback edition and the Penguin Arkana softcover edition) at pages 148-149 of the Orion paperback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Clark, Jerome “The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon from the Beginning - 2nd edition” (1998) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) in Volume 2:L-Z at pages 584-591 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock Lights”) of the Omnigraphics hardback edition. |
8 |
|
|
Clark, Jerome in his “The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial” (1998) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 342-350 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock Lights”) of the Visible Ink Press softcover edition. |
9 |
|
|
Clark, Jerome in his “The UFO Encyclopedia: 1st edition: Volume 2 – Emergence of a Phenomenon” (1992) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 230-237 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock Lights”) of the Omnigraphics hardback edition. |
8 |
|
|
Clark, Jerome in his “UFO Encounters” (1992) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 51-52 (in the unnumbered chapter entitled “The Dimensions of a Phenomenon”) of the Publications International hardback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Collins, Jim in his “Unidentified Flying Objects” (1977) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 40-43 (in Chapter 5) of the Raintree hardback edition. |
4 |
|
|
Cousineau, Phil in his “UFOs: A Manual for the Millenium” (1995) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 55-56 (in Chapter 3) of the Harper Collins paperback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Darling, David in his “The Extraterrestrial Encyclopedia” (2000) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 245 (in the entry entitled “Lubbock Lights”) of the Three Rivers softcover edition. |
1 |
|
|
Darling, David in his online encyclopedia, “The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy and Spaceflight” (2003) in the entry entitled “Lubbock Lights”. The relevant entry is available online at: “http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/Lubbock.html |
1 |
|
|
Dolan, Richard M in his “UFOs and the National Security State: Volume 1: 1941-1973” (2000) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 151-152 (in Chapter 3) of the Keyhole softcover edition, at pages 90-91 of the 2002 revised Hampton Road softcover edition. |
2 |
|
|
Flammonde, Paris in his “Ufo Exist!” (1976) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 313-316 (in Chapter 16) of the Ballantine Books paperback edition. |
4 |
|
|
Goldsmith, Donald and Owen, Tobias in their “The Search for Life in the Universe” (1980) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 414 (in Chapter 21) of the Benjamin Cummings softcover edition, at page 490 (in Chapter 20) of the 1992 Addison Wesley softcover revised second edition. |
1 |
|
|
Guieu, Jimmy in his “Flying Saucers Come From Another World” (1956) (edited by Ronald Story) (edited by Ronald Story) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 98 (in Chapter 4) of the Hutchinson hardback edition. |
1 |
|
|
Gurney, Gene (USAF Lt Col) and Clare Gurney in their “Unidentified Flying Objects” (1970) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 88-92 (in Chapter 7) of the Abelard-Schuman hardback edition. |
5 |
|
|
Hall, Michael David and Connors, Wendy Ann in their “Captain Edward J Ruppelt : Summer of the Saucers - 1952” (2000) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 30-31, 32-35 (in Chapter 1), 65, 74 (in Chapter 2), 245 (in the unnumbered chapter entitled “Final Word - The Forgotten Correspondence of Edward Ruppelt”) of the Rose Press softcover edition. |
9 |
|
|
Hall, Michael David in his “UFOs : A Century of Sightings” (1999) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 145-150 (in Chapter 4) of the Galde Press softcover edition. |
6 |
|
|
Harbinson, W A in his “Projekt Saucer” (1995) at pages 98-100 (in Chapter 6), 113 (in Chapter 7), 189 (in Chapter 10) of the Box Tree hardback edition. |
5 |
|
|
Hesemann, Michael and Mantle, Philip in their “Beyond Roswell” (1997) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 87-88 (in Chapter 6) of the Michael O’Mara hardback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Keel, John A in his “UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse” (1970) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 151-152 (in Chapter 8) of the Souvenir Press hardback edition (with the same page numbering in the Abacus softcover edition). |
2 |
|
|
Kelleher, Colm and Knapp, George in their “Hunt for the Skinwalker” (2005) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 138 (in Chapter 18) of the Pocket Books softcover edition. |
1 |
|
|
Leslie, Desmond in “Flying Saucers Have Landed” (1953) by Desmond Leslie and George Adamski (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 37-38 (in Part 1, Chapter 2) and 47 (in Part 1, Chapter 3) of the Werner Laurie hardback edition, pages 36-37 and 46 of the 1970 revised Neville Spearman hardback edition (with the same page numbering in the revised Futura paperback edition). |
3 |
|
|
Lorenzen, Coral and Lorenzen, Jim in their “UFOs: The Whole Story” (1969) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 41, 42 (in Chapter 1) of the Signet paperback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Mannion, Michael in his “Project Mindshift” (1998) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 65-66 (in Chapter 3) of the Evans hardback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Marrs, Jim in his “Alien Agenda” (1997) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 127-128 (in Chapter 5) of the Harper Collins paperback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Marvels and Mysteries (Editors Of) in “Marvels and Mysteries: UFOs” (1997) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 34 of the Parrallel softcover edition. |
1 |
|
|
Menzel, Donald and Boyd, Lyle in their “The World of Flying Saucers” (1963) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 123-129 (in Chapter VI) of the Doubleday hardback edition. |
7 |
|
|
Menzel, Donald and Taves, Ernest in their “The UFO Enigma“ (1977) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 192 (in Chapter 14) of the Doubleday hardback edition. |
1 |
|
|
Menzel, Donald in his “Flying Saucers“ (1953) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 34-37 (in Chapter 3) of the Putnam hardback edition. |
4 |
|
|
Moseley, James and Pflock, Karl in their “Shockingly Close to the Truth!” (2002) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 55-56 (in Chapter 2) of the Prometheus hardback edition. |
2 |
|
|
NICAP in its “The UFO Evidence” (1964) (edited by Richard Hall) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 88 (in Section 8) of the privately published paperbound edition, with the same page numbering in the 1997 Barnes & Noble paperbound reprint. Available free online at: “http://www.nicap.org/ufoe/section_8.htm |
1 |
|
|
Ortzen, Len in his “Strange Stories of UFOs” (1977) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 64-69 (in Chapter 9) of the Coronet paperback edition. |
6 |
|
|
Project Grudge Status Report Number 1 (1951.1130) at pages 1 to 3 of Appendix 1. Complete images of relevant report included on the redacted National Archives Microfilm Publication T1206 roll number 85 (“Administrative Files: Box 1”), at the link below from the page with the unique Page ID (“PID”) of NARA-PBB85-518 (page 518 of 915) to the page with the PID of |
3 |
|
|
Project Grudge Status Report Number 2 (1951.1231) at pages 1-4 of Appendix 1. Complete images of relevant report included on the redacted National Archives Microfilm Publication T1206 roll number 85 (“Administrative Files: Box 1”), at the link below from the page with the unique Page ID (“PID”) of NARA-PBB85-549 (page 549 of 915) to the page with the PID of NARA-PBB85-577 (page 577 of 915). Complete images of relevant report included on the unredacted Maxwell Air Force Base microfilm roll number 30,362, at the link below from the page with the PID of MAXW-PBB1-529 (page 529 of 1537) to the page with the PID of MAXW-PBB1-556 (page 556 of 1537)). Images of complete text of relevant report available free online as a downloadable pdf file from the download section of the website at the link below: |
4 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin and Estes, Russ in their “Spaceships of the Visitors” (1997) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 122-129 (in Part 3) of the Fireside softcover edition. |
8 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin in “The Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters” (2001) (edited by Ronald Story) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 311-313 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock (Texas) lights”) of the New American Library softcover edition, at pages 304-306 of the pdf edition (with the same page numbering in the Microsoft Word edition). |
3 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin in “The Encyclopedia of UFOs” (1980) edited by Ronald Story (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 215-218 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock (Texas) Lights”) of the NEL hardback edition. |
4 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin in “The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters” (2001) (edited by Ronald Story) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pagess 373-375 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock (Texas) lights”) of the Robinson softcover edition. |
3 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin in his “Conspiracy of Silence” (1997) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 2 (in the Introduction), 80 (in Chapter 3), 81-97 (Chapter 4 generally), 227, 228 (in Chapter 11) of the |
21 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin in his “Project Bluebook Exposed” (1997) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 182 (in the unnumbered chapter entitled “So, What Do We Make of All This?”), 189-193 and 203-204 (in Appendix A) of the Marlowe softcover edition. |
8 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin in his “Project Moon Dust” (1998) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 33 (in Chapter 2), 109-115 (in Chapter 5) of the |
8 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin in his “Scientific Ufology” (1999) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 204-205 (in Chapter 7) of the |
2 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin in his “The UFO Casebook” (1989) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 56-65 (in an entry entitled “August 1951: The Lubbock Lights”) of the Warner Books paperback edition. |
10 |
|
|
Randle, Kevin in his “The UFO Casebook” (1989) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 59 and 62-63 (forming part of entry entitled “August 1951: The Lubbock Lights”) of the Warner Books paperback edition. |
3 |
|
|
Randles, Jenny in her “Alien Contact – The First Fifty Years” (1997) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 18 (in the chapter entitled “1951”) of the Collins and Brown hardback edition. |
1 |
|
|
Randles, Jenny in her “UFOs and How to See Them” (1992) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 65-66 (in Chapter 4) of the Brockhampton Press hardback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Richards, Charles in “Flying Saucers : Twenty-One Years of UFOs” (1968), published by the editors of Cowles and UPI, at pages 46-49. |
4 |
|
|
Richards, Charles in “Flying Saucers: A Look Special” (1967) published by the editors of United Press International and Cowles Communications Inc, at pages 10-11. |
2 |
|
|
Rickard, Robert and Kelly, Richard in their “Photographs of the Unknown” (1980) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 54 (in the unnumbered chapter entitled “UFOs”) of the NEL softcover edition. |
1 |
|
|
Ritchie, David in his “UFO : The Definitive Guide” (1994) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 32-33 (in an entry entitled “boomerangs”), 127 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock Lights, |
2 |
|
|
Ruppelt, Edward J in his “The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects” (1956) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 96-110 (in Chapter 8 generally) of the original 17 chapter Doubleday hardback edition, at pages 133-150 of the Gollancz hardback edition, at pages 130-148 of the Ace paperback edition, at pages 96-110 (in Chapter 8 generally), 254 (in Chapter 18), 276 (in Chapter 20) of the 1959 revised Doubleday 20 chapter hardback edition, at pages 70-80 of the reprinted Source Books softcover edition. The first of these editions (i.e. the original 17 chapter hardback edition) has the same page numbering as the version available free online at: http://www.nicap.org/rufo/contents2.htm |
17 |
|
|
Sachs, Margaret in her “The UFO Encyclopedia“ (1980 (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 182-183 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock Lights”) of the Corgi softback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Spencer, John and Spencer, Anne in their “Fifty Years of UFOs” (1997) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 26-27 (in the unnumbered chapter entitled “1947-1957”) of the Boxtree hardback edition. |
2 |
|
|
Spencer, John in his “The UFO Encyclopedia” (1991) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 193 (in an entry entitled “Lubbock Lights”) of the Guild hardback edition (with the same page numbering in the Avon softcover edition) at page 224 of the Headline paperback edition. |
1 |
|
|
Spencer, John in his “UFOs: The Definitive Casebook” (1991) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 25 (in the unnumbered section entitled “ |
1 |
|
|
Stanton, L Jerome in his “Flying Saucers : Hoax or Reality?” (1966) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 51-53 (in Chapter 3) of the |
3 |
|
|
Steiger, Brad (with extracts from relevant documentation) in his “Project Blue Book“ (1976) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 78-100 of the Ballantine Books paperback edition (Chapter Four : Mystery of the Lubbock Lights”) particularly at pages 83-90 and 98-100. |
23 |
|
|
Stemman, |
1 |
|
|
Sutherly, Curt in his “UFO Mysteries: A Reporter Seeks the Truth” (2001) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 189-191 (in Appendix 2) of the Llewellyn softcover edition. |
3 |
|
|
Time-Life (Editors of) in “The UFO phenomenon: Mysteries of the Unknown” (1987) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 49-51 (in Chapter 2) of the Time-Life Book hardback edition. |
3 |
|
|
Trench, Brinsley Le Poer in his “The Flying Saucer Story” (1966) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at page 27 (in Chapter 3) of the revised Tandem paperback edition. |
1 |
|
|
Young, Mort in his “UFO Top Secret” (1967) (available on Amazon USA and on Amazon UK) at pages 105-106 (in Chapter 7) of the Essandess softcover edition. |
2 |
Other Material
Official US documents about this incident can be found online. See the material on the ambitious “Project Blue Book Archive” website in relation to Project Blue Book Case Number 978, which commences at the link provided (and continues on the pages which follow it).