THINK ABOUTIT UFO SIGHTINGS REPORT

1981: Low-Flying Cigar-Shaped UFO Sighted, Los Angeles

Driving home from a friend’s apartment in West Los Angeles just before midnight on April 19, 1981, Dr. Barry E. Taff spotted something hovering low over a shopping center parking lot near the Santa Monica Freeway underpass. He ruled out a fixed-wing plane, a police helicopter, and the Goodyear Blimp in turn before pulling over to look properly: a flattened, elongated, charcoal-gray cigar shape roughly 65 feet long and 15 feet high, with no wings or tail of any kind, silently holding position about 2,500 feet away, its length lined with alternating green-blue-and-white running lights and rows of brilliantly lit rectangular “windows.” Taff was, by profession, exactly the kind of witness whose skepticism is worth taking seriously: a UCLA-trained parapsychologist with a doctorate in psychophysiology who spent his career investigating claims of the paranormal and, by his own repeated public statements, attributing the overwhelming majority of them to conventional explanations.

Date: April 19, 1981

Sighting Time: Approximately 11:30 p.m. PST

Day/Night: Night

Location: West Los Angeles, California, near the intersection of Palms Boulevard and the Santa Monica Freeway underpass, over the Von’s Market shopping center parking lot

Urban or Rural: Urban

No. of Entity(s): Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: NL — Nocturnal Light, per this site’s legacy field data. Given the close observation distance (approximately 2,500 feet), extended duration, and highly resolved structural detail described (windows, running lights, hull texture and color), this case arguably also merits consideration as CE-I; the classification is presented as originally recorded, with this note added for context.

Duration: Approximately 45 seconds

No. of Object(s): 1

Description of the Object(s): A flattened, elongated cigar-shaped object with no tail section or wings of any kind, viewed on edge; the surface appeared solid, opaque, and charcoal gray in color; running lights, alternating green-blue and white, ran along the top and bottom of the object’s length; rectangular, window-like openings spaced evenly between the rows of running lights emitted extremely bright white light; the object was slightly tilted toward the ground and moved very slowly, producing no sound whatsoever despite its estimated proximity

Shape of Object(s): Cigar-shaped, flattened and elongated

Size of Object(s): Estimated approximately 65 feet in length and 15 feet high

Color of Object(s): Charcoal gray, opaque surface; alternating green-blue and white running lights; intense white light from window-like openings

Distance to Object(s): Estimated approximately 2,500 feet from the witness’s position

Height & Speed: No higher than approximately 500 to 600 feet altitude; moved very slowly, entering from the northeast, tilting toward the ground, turning away, then resuming a northeasterly heading before disappearing from view

Number of Witnesses: 1 (Barry E. Taff)

Special Features/Characteristics: Witness methodically ruled out a fixed-wing aircraft, a police helicopter (common in the area at that hour), and the Goodyear Blimp before concluding the object matched none of them; witness specifically noted the complete absence of any engine, propeller, rotor, or turbine sound despite a range close enough that such sounds would ordinarily be expected, and noted the street was unusually free of traffic noise that might otherwise have masked such sound; witness did not pursue the object, as he was alone in the vehicle and could not safely drive while continuing to observe it; witness produced a detailed written report and diagram for APRO shortly after the sighting

Case Status: Unexplained

Source: News World (New York, NY), December 12, 1981; APRO Bulletin, 1981 (full account written by the witness, Barry E. Taff)

Summary/Description: A large, low-flying, cigar-shaped object with white lights shining from a row of window-like openings and alternating green-blue and white running lights was sighted by West Los Angeles resident Barry E. Taff on the night of April 19, 1981, at about 11:30 p.m. Taff, a UCLA-trained parapsychologist and paranormal investigator, estimated the object at about 65 feet long and 15 feet high, moving slowly and silently at roughly 500 to 600 feet altitude before departing to the northeast. He methodically ruled out conventional aircraft explanations based on the object’s shape, absence of sound, and lack of wings or tail structure.

Related Cases: None documented

Full Report

Drawing of the craft sighted by Barry E. Taff over Los Angeles on the night of April 19, 1981 (source: News World, courtesy of APRO Bulletin)

Diagram of sighting area (source: APRO Bulletin)

“Cigar-Shaped Craft Seen Over LA” — News World, December 12, 1981

A large, low-flying cigar-shaped object with white lights shining from a row of “windows” and bearing green-blue and white “running lights” was reported to the APRO Bulletin, published by APRO, a leading UFO research organization in the United States. The object was sighted by a West Los Angeles resident on the night of April 19, 1981 at about 11:30 p.m.

Barry E. Taff reported that he was driving home from a visit with a friend in the city of Palms when he noticed something unusual in the sky as he crossed under the Santa Monica Freeway bridge. He was just coming up the grade from the underpass, parallel to a shopping center parking lot, when he noticed the object moving slowly no higher than 500 to 600 feet off the ground over the northeast corner of the parking lot at a compass heading of 40 degrees.

After ruling out the object as a helicopter, blimp, or other conventional aircraft, Taff pulled his car over and stopped to observe the strange sight. The object, which seemed about 2,500 feet from where he was standing, gave off no noise.

Taff wrote, “What made me so sure I was not observing any type of conventional aircraft was its basic structural design, that of a flattened, elongated cigar, with no tail section or wings of any kind. It is hard to imagine an aircraft staying aloft without any type of horizontal or vertical stabilizer.”

He said that what appeared to be “running lights” were positioned along the top and bottom of the craft, which alternated green, blue, and white. There were also what looked like windows spaced regularly along the object’s length, which gave off an intense white light. Taff wrote that the object itself appeared to be quite solid, with a charcoal gray, opaque surface. He said the object was slightly tilted toward the ground and was moving very slowly.

The object, Taff wrote, seemed to come out of the northeast, tilt toward the ground, and then turn away from his position to a point where he could not see the lights or windows. It then appeared to begin moving back in a northeasterly direction until he lost sight of it. The entire sighting lasted less than a minute, and Taff did not pursue the object because he could not drive and observe it at the same time.

Full Report from APRO Bulletin, 1981 (written by the witness)

Object Over Los Angeles, by Barry E. Taff, 4/19/81, West Los Angeles

On Sunday evening, April 19, 1981, I had just left my friend’s apartment (Larry Brooks) on Jasmine in the city of Palms and headed south on Palms to the 7-11 store at Overland and Palms. I purchased a small bite to eat at the 7-11 store and then headed northbound on Palms toward my home. I didn’t notice anything unusual until I crossed under the Santa Monica Freeway bridge, after which Palms turns into National Blvd.

It was now approximately 11:30 p.m. PST, and I was just coming up the grade from the underpass. As I reached the crest of the grade, which is approximately parallel with the 76 Union Gasoline station just to the right, I noticed something in the air slightly off to the right. I was now about even with the parking lot for Von’s Market and the accompanying shopping center located there.

At first glance I thought I was observing either a low-flying, fixed-wing aircraft, or possibly a police helicopter, which are quite common in that area during the late evening hours. After I ruled out those two possibilities based on my sighting, I then thought it might possibly be the Goodyear Blimp in distress, as it appeared to be quite low in altitude.

I would estimate that it was no higher than 500 to 600 feet. It was over the northeast leg of the shopping center, at a compass heading of 40 degrees. After effectively eliminating all the aforementioned aircraft possibilities, I then pulled the car over and stopped, turning off the engine. I stepped out of the car and continued to observe the object in the air.

The most apparent factor at this point was that there was absolutely no sound being generated by the object whatsoever. My eyeball estimate of the object’s range is about 2,500 feet from my location, as marked on the map. At that range I would expect to hear either engines or propeller blades from a fixed-wing aircraft or the rotor blades of a helicopter. Neither was heard. Nor was the sound of a jet engine or turbine.

What made me so sure I was not observing any type of conventional aircraft was its basic structural design, that of a flattened, elongated cigar, with no tail section or wings of any kind. It is hard to imagine an aircraft staying aloft without any type of horizontal or vertical stabilizer. Additionally, what appeared to be “running lights” were positioned along the top and bottom of the cigar shape, which was viewed on edge. The colors of these running lights were a green/blue and white, alternating.

Another peculiar feature observed was that this long cigar-shaped object had what looked like windows or rectangular openings spaced equidistant from each other between the rows of running lights. The “windows” or openings were emitting extremely bright white light.

The object itself appeared to be quite solid, and its surface had a charcoal gray color and looked opaque. The object’s attitude was slightly tilted toward the ground, and it was moving very slowly. It seemed to come out of the northeast, tilt down towards the ground, then turn away from my position to a point where I could no longer observe the lights or windows, only its backside, which had no lights or windows. At that point, it appeared to begin moving back in a northeasterly direction, and I lost sight of it.

Again, it is important to note that during this entire observational period, there was not any sound heard coming from the object. And inasmuch as it was a relatively late hour (11:30 p.m.), there were few if any cars on the street to distract me or drown out the sound, if any.

My entire sighting lasted approximately 45 seconds, and I did intend to pursue the object, but I could not drive the car and observe the object at the same time since I was alone, and there was no one present to assist me in navigation.

In conclusion, I’d estimate that the object’s size was considerably larger than any helicopter that the police have flown locally (perhaps 65 feet in length), and was about 15 feet high. It could not have been a blimp, as its shape was not consistent with that type of aircraft.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

West Los Angeles, 1981 — A Trained Skeptic’s Own Anomalous Sighting

• This is not an anonymous witness, and that matters. Barry E. Taff is a publicly documented, named professional: a UCLA-trained parapsychologist with a doctorate in psychophysiology, best known for leading the 1974 Doris Bither investigation that inspired the novel and film The Entity. His career, spanning decades and thousands of investigated cases, is a matter of public record independent of this sighting.
• His professional habit of mind is toward conventional explanation, not away from it. Taff has repeatedly and publicly stated that the large majority of the roughly 4,800 paranormal cases he personally investigated over his career were ultimately attributable to unusual but conventional causes. A witness whose professional reputation rests on skeptical, methodical investigation, reporting that he could not identify what he saw despite actively working through the conventional possibilities in real time, carries meaningfully more weight than an account from someone with no comparable investigative background.
• The elimination process is documented step by step. Taff’s own account walks through fixed-wing aircraft, police helicopter, and the Goodyear Blimp in sequence, explaining specifically why each was ruled out (absence of sound, inconsistent shape, structural design incompatible with the observed lack of wings or tail), rather than presenting a vague sense that the object was unusual.
• Silence at close range is the case’s most specific, checkable anomaly. Taff explicitly notes the near-total absence of ambient traffic noise at that hour, which would ordinarily have made engine, rotor, or turbine sound clearly audible at an estimated 2,500-foot range. This is a specific claim about acoustic conditions, not a generic “it was quiet” impression.
• Single witness remains the case’s central limitation. Despite the witness’s strong professional credentials, no second observer has been identified for this sighting, and it should be weighed with that limitation in mind regardless of how carefully documented the single account is.

A man who spent his career teaching himself to find the conventional explanation behind reports of the unexplained pulled his car over on a quiet West Los Angeles street, worked through every conventional possibility he could think of, and came up empty. Barry Taff’s UFO sighting has never had the media profile of his ghost-hunting career, but the same trained, skeptical eye is behind both. More than four decades later, the cigar-shaped object he watched cross the sky that April night remains exactly what he called it: unidentified.

“What made me so sure I was not observing any type of conventional aircraft was its basic structural design, that of a flattened, elongated cigar, with no tail section or wings of any kind.”

— Barry E. Taff, April 19, 1981