THINK ABOUTIT UFO SIGHTINGS REPORT

1964: Strange-Looking Object Over Homes, Sunnyvale, California

Driving home on McKinley Avenue at 10:30 p.m. on June 2, 1964, Mrs. Bruce A. Holmes of Sunnyvale, California, spotted a dark, cigar-shaped object hovering motionless barely 150 feet above her neighbors’ rooftops, an illuminated box-like section glowing beneath it and ringed with what she described as “fluttering flags.” She raced inside for her husband; by the time they got back outside, the object was already climbing away toward San Jose — and then, over the space of about ten minutes, it shot behind one tree at extreme speed, back behind another, reappeared with two identical companions, and the three of them vanished together over the horizon.

Date: June 2, 1964

Sighting Time: 10:30 p.m. (PST)

Day/Night: Night

Location: McKinley Avenue, Sunnyvale, California

Urban or Rural: Urban

No. of Entity(s): Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: CE-I — Close Encounter of the First Kind. This site’s legacy field data listed NL (Nocturnal Light); however, the witness’s own estimated distance of no more than 150 feet, combined with clearly resolved structural detail (a distinct illuminated box-like section, fluttering flag-like appendages, and an overall cigar/thickened-disc body shape), places this well within CE-I’s proximity threshold and level of observed detail rather than a simple point-source nocturnal light.

Duration: Approximately 10 minutes total observation

No. of Object(s): 3 by the sighting’s end (1 initially observed, joined later by 2 identical objects)

Description of the Object(s): A dark, blimp-like main body, somewhat cigar-shaped but fatter, possibly a disc thickened at the center, appearing about the size of an 18-by-24-foot living room and barely visible against the night sky. Below the main body, a slightly rectangular, flat, box-like area was brightly illuminated from within, the light shining downward. Around the entire bottom edge were white, flag-like appendages in constant fluttering motion, likened by the witness to service-station promotional flags, even while the object’s main body remained motionless.

Shape of Object(s): Cigar-shaped, possibly a thickened disc

Size of Object(s): Appeared approximately the size of an 18-by-24-foot living room

Color of Object(s): Dark main body, barely visible against the night sky; white fluttering appendages, either self-lit or reflecting light from the illuminated box section

Distance to Object(s): Estimated no more than 150 feet, at an altitude over neighborhood homes, about a city block from the witness

Height & Speed: Hovered motionless before departing at approximately a 40-degree upward angle; overall transit speed comparable to a propeller aircraft, with brief bursts of extremely high speed when shifting behind trees

Number of Witnesses: 2 (Mrs. Bruce A. Holmes, who observed the object first and alone; joined outdoors shortly after by her husband, who witnessed the object’s departure and the appearance of the two additional objects)

Special Features/Characteristics: Object’s main body remained motionless while its fluttering white edge appendages stayed in constant motion; after departing at a 40-degree angle toward the southeast, the object shot suddenly to the left behind one tree at extremely high speed, then reversed back across the same path behind a second tree, before reappearing between the two trees joined by two additional, identical objects; all three then continued together toward San Jose and disappeared over the horizon; weather was clear with a 10–15 mph wind from the north

Case Status: Unexplained

Source: NICAP

Summary/Description: While driving toward her home on McKinley Avenue at 10:30 p.m. on June 2, 1964, Mrs. Bruce A. Holmes of Sunnyvale, California, saw a strange-looking object about a city block’s distance away, hovering motionless over neighborhood homes at an estimated altitude of no more than 150 feet. The object appeared about the size of an 18-by-24-foot living room, with a dark, blimp-like, cigar-shaped body and a brightly illuminated box-like section underneath ringed with fluttering white, flag-like appendages. After summoning her husband, the couple watched the object depart at a 40-degree angle, execute two extremely fast lateral movements behind separate trees, reappear joined by two identical objects, and disappear together toward San Jose. Total observation time was about ten minutes.

Related Cases: None documented

Full Report

While driving toward her home on McKinley Avenue at 10:30 p.m. (PST) on June 2, Mrs. Bruce A. Holmes, of Sunnyvale, California, saw a strange-looking object about a city block’s distance from her. The UFO hovered motionless over neighborhood homes at an altitude estimated to be no more than 150 feet and appeared to be about as large as “an 18 by 24-foot living room.” The main body of the object was similar to a blimp, somewhat cigar-shaped, but fatter, possibly the shape of a disc thickened at the center. It was dark and barely visible against the darkened sky.

Below this body a slightly rectangular, flat, box-like area was brightly illuminated. The light was shining downward and appeared to come from within this box-like section. Around the entire bottom edge were what appeared to the witness to be “fluttering flags.” These were white, and either lighted or reflecting the light from within the boxed area. Although the object itself was quite motionless, the appendages were in constant motion, reminding the witness of the flags used at service stations to attract the attention of customers.

Mrs. Holmes continued toward her home, parked her car and ran into the house to summon her husband. As they hurried outdoors, the object had already begun to move off and upward at about a 40-degree angle, and it was some distance away, heading southeast toward San Jose. The witnesses watched it grow smaller as it moved toward the horizon, between two large trees. Its speed was about that of a propeller aircraft. Suddenly, the object shot quickly to the left behind one of the trees at extremely high speed, then back again across the same path to the right, behind the other tree. It then moved back into view between the two trees and was joined by two identical objects. The three UFOs continued in the direction of San Jose and disappeared over the horizon. The total length of observation was about ten minutes. The weather at the time of sighting was clear, with a 10 to 15 m.p.h. wind from the north.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

The McKinley Avenue Sighting — 1964 and the Value of Structural Detail at Close Range

• Classification corrected: CE-I, not NL. A Nocturnal Light classification generally describes a point or featureless luminous source with no resolvable structure. Here, the witness’s own account describes a distinct cigar-shaped or thickened-disc main body, a clearly bounded rectangular illuminated section, and individually distinguishable fluttering appendages, observed from an estimated distance of no more than 150 feet. That level of structural resolution at close range is the defining feature of CE-I, not NL, and the classification has been corrected accordingly.
• The motionless-body, moving-appendage detail is unusually specific. Mrs. Holmes’s account distinguishes carefully between the object’s stationary main body and its constantly fluttering edge appendages, a level of behavioral distinction that is difficult to attribute to a simple misidentification of a static light source and suggests careful, attentive observation rather than a fleeting glance.
• The high-speed lateral maneuvers are the case’s strongest anomaly. An object moving at propeller-aircraft speed that suddenly executes near-instantaneous lateral shifts behind trees, in both directions along the same path, describes flight characteristics well outside the performance envelope of any 1964-era conventional aircraft, balloon, or blimp. This detail, independent of the object’s appearance, is the strongest single piece of evidence against a mundane explanation.
• Two-witness corroboration, though staggered. Mrs. Holmes’s husband did not see the object’s initial close approach, but did independently witness its high-speed maneuvering and the appearance of the two additional identical objects, corroborating the sighting’s later, most anomalous phase even though he missed its opening moments.
• Multiplication into a formation is a recurring and notable pattern. The appearance of two additional, identical objects joining the original one before departure together is a detail that recurs across a number of cases in this archive’s broader record, and is worth tracking as a pattern rather than treated as an isolated coincidence specific to this sighting.

A Sunnyvale housewife driving home on an ordinary June night found a dark, structured object hovering low enough over her neighbors’ rooftops to make out its fluttering edge lights in detail, then watched it, joined moments later by her husband, execute maneuvers no propeller aircraft, blimp, or balloon of 1964 could have managed before multiplying into a formation of three and vanishing toward San Jose. Sixty years later, McKinley Avenue’s strange visitor remains unidentified.

“Although the object itself was quite motionless, the appendages were in constant motion.”

— witness account of the June 2, 1964 Sunnyvale, California sighting