North of Mojave, California, November 2, 1951: two lookouts signal a blue-green disc that approaches within a dozen feet.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1951: Two Forest Lookouts North of Mojave, California Signal a Blue-Green Disc That Approaches Within a Dozen Feet
At about 11:00 p.m. on November 2, 1951, two U.S. Forest Service fire lookouts driving a jeep on a canyon road about 35 miles north of Mojave, California saw a vivid blue-green circular object appear from the southeast. It looked about 30 feet across and 8 feet thick, with an aura of the same color and a darker green band around it that stayed horizontal to the ground whatever the object’s attitude. It made no sound and showed no means of locomotion.
They stopped the jeep, turned out the lights and got out, waving and yelling to attract its attention. According to the Air Force report, the object began a series of maneuvers, approaching to within about a dozen feet and backing off to less than three miles at least three times. It then moved off over a ridge and finally moved sideways and vanished, they said, like a magician’s trick. The men reported it nine months later, and Project Blue Book attributed the case to psychological causes.
Date: November 2, 1951
Sighting Time: About 11:00 p.m. PST (0700Z, November 3)
Day/Night: Night (dark, moonless, clear and dry)
Location: On a canyon road about 35 miles north of Mojave, California, the observers were at about 2,300 feet
Urban or Rural: Rural (desert canyon and ridges)
No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable
Entity Type: Not Applicable
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: Close Encounter of the First Kind (CE-I)
Duration: Not reported; the object made several approaches and was followed over three ridges
No. of Object(s): 1
Description of the Object(s): A circular object with a vivid blue-green, clear-cut outline and a surrounding glow of the same color. A darker green band circled it and always stayed horizontal to the ground, whatever the object’s attitude. It was soundless and showed no visible means of locomotion.
Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Circular; about 30 feet in diameter and 8 feet thick, estimated by comparison with the jeep; vivid blue-green with a darker green band
Distance to Object(s): Approached to within about a dozen feet of the witnesses (the card says 12 feet) and backed off to less than three miles, at least three times
Height & Speed: It did not rise much above eye level, and the observers were at about 2,300 feet. Speeds ranged from hovering to not more than 100 miles per hour.
Number of Witnesses: 2 (two Forest Service fire lookouts, names redacted in the file)
Special Features/Characteristics: The object appeared to respond to the witnesses’ waving and shouting; a band that stayed horizontal; no sound; it vanished sideways as if a light had been put out, not behind a ridge; the sighting was reported nine months later; a similar object was reported by the same men in August 1949
Case Status: Explained by Blue Book as psychological (record card: Other, “Psychological”; “Case attributed to psychological causes”). The card gives no further reasoning.
Source: Project Blue Book record card; Air Force intelligence report to the Director of Intelligence, Fifteenth Air Force, August 11, 1952; Jacques Vallée, Magonia catalog; FUFOR Index
Summary/Description: Two Forest Service lookouts signaled a blue-green disc on a canyon road north of Mojave, and it approached to within about a dozen feet several times before vanishing sideways. The Air Force found them steady and convincing, but Blue Book rated the case psychological.
Related Cases: The same observers’ report of an object near Delilah Lookout, east of Fresno, in August 1949 (described in the same file)
Detailed Report
The Report, Nine Months Later
On August 6, 1952, two men visited the Air Force intelligence office in Los Angeles (Detachment 1 of the district office) and reported two sightings. They said they had worked four summers as Forest Service fire lookouts, which also made them part of the civil defense aircraft-spotter program, and felt they were well-qualified observers. The report was written up on August 11, 1952, and addressed to the Director of Intelligence, Fifteenth Air Force, at March Air Force Base.
The Encounter
On or about November 2, 1951, at about 2300 hours, the two men were driving their jeep on a canyon road about 35 miles north of Mojave. A flying object appeared suddenly from the southeast, from the jeep’s right rear. They described it as circular, about 30 feet in diameter and 8 feet thick, estimates based on a comparison with the jeep. It was a vivid blue-green with a clear-cut outline, and an aura or glow of roughly the same color surrounded it. A darker green band circled it, and regardless of the attitude of the object the band always remained horizontal to the ground. The object was soundless and displayed no visible means of locomotion. In the course of its maneuvers it moved at speeds from hovering to not more than 100 miles per hour, and it did not rise much above eye level.
The men stopped the jeep beside the road, turned out the lights and got out. They said they were so excited that they waved their hands, yelled and jumped up and down, trying to attract the object’s attention. The report says they apparently succeeded. The object began a series of maneuvers, approaching to within a dozen feet and then backing off to less than three miles. It did this at least three times, along a southeast to northwest line.
Over Three Ridges
The object then moved to the northeast and disappeared behind a low ridge. The men got back into the jeep and followed. When they topped the ridge, the object was hovering in the next hollow. It went over the next ridge, and they followed and saw it again. It went over a third ridge, and they followed and rediscovered it in the next hollow. This time it moved at right angles to them, not away from them. It moved sideways and then disappeared as though a light had been suddenly extinguished. It did not disappear in the distance or behind another ridge. The men emphasized that it just blinked from sight like a magician’s trick. The report adds that it was a dark, moonless night, clear and dry.
The Officer’s Assessment and Blue Book’s Verdict
The reporting officer wrote that the men appeared to be steady, dependable people, claimed to be almost teetotalers, and told their story convincingly and without noticeable signs of hoaxing. He added that one of them is an unpublished historical novelist. The Blue Book card gives the sighting as one object, 30 feet in diameter and 8 feet thick, notes that the report was made on August 8, 1952, of a sighting in August or November 1951, and concludes that the case was attributed to psychological causes. The card records it as a civilian ground-visual sighting with no photographs.
The 1949 Report
The same visit included a second report. In August 1949, while employed as lookouts at Delilah Lookout, east of Fresno, the men said they watched through Navy binoculars an object about 100 feet long, dull silver-white and spaceship-like, moving silently at about 20 miles per hour at a distance of a few miles. That report is a separate event and is described in the same file.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
Why the Mojave Case Still Matters
- A close approach with apparent response: Few 1951 files describe an object that approached within a dozen feet and backed away several times after the witnesses signaled to it. The report presents that as the witnesses’ account, not as a verified fact.
- A delayed report: The men reported the encounter about nine months later, and the date is given as “on or about” November 2. The Blue Book card notes the sighting could have been in August or November 1951.
- Blue Book’s explanation is a single phrase: The card says only that the case was attributed to psychological causes. No test, interview or alternative explanation is recorded in the file.
- The reporting officer found them credible: The officer called the men steady and dependable and saw no signs of hoaxing, while also recording that one of them writes historical fiction. Both statements are in the report.
- A shape that kept its attitude: The darker green band stayed horizontal to the ground whatever the object’s attitude. It is the one structural detail in the account that the witnesses described as constant.
The Mojave report is a long, detailed account from two trained lookouts that reached the Air Force nine months after the fact and was filed under psychological causes without further explanation. It stays in the archive as a record of what the witnesses said they saw and what the Air Force chose to conclude.
“It just blinked from sight like a magician’s trick.”
— Air Force intelligence report on the November 2, 1951 sighting north of Mojave, California, August 11, 1952
