Pantex nuclear plant sightings (1957)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 7 November 1957 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Nuclear & missile sites (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic) |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 59 |
| Year | 1957 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1957 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 9 |
On the night of 7 November 1957, during a nationwide wave of sightings that followed the launch of Sputnik 2, guards at the Pantex Atomic Energy Commission plant near Amarillo, Texas, where nuclear weapons were assembled, reported brilliant flashing objects near the plant. The objects were never identified.[1][2]
The sighting
The guards called the Texas Highway Patrol at 7:46 p.m. According to the next day's Amarillo Globe-Times, three objects hovered about 50 feet off the ground for around half an hour, and when guards turned off their lights and tried to approach, the objects moved away. One was said to have landed on Farm Road 2373, a few miles north of U.S. Highway 60. A highway patrolman who arrived at 8:15 p.m. saw a strange light but found nothing on the road, though he said he was convinced the guards had seen something. Witnesses described three disc-shaped craft with bright, colourful lights.[1][2][3]
Context
The sighting was one of many that week, including the Levelland, Texas, reports of 2–3 November, when drivers said a glowing object stalled their car engines; Project Blue Book attributed the Levelland reports to ball lightning.[4][5]
The plant
Pantex, about 15 miles northeast of Amarillo, has been the main U.S. facility for assembling and dismantling nuclear weapons, and is known for its security.[2][6]
2026 files
On 22 May 2026 the second batch of U.S. government UFO files included a Department of Energy document titled "Enhanced Pantex Imagery", a two-page redacted "Pantex Unidentified Object Incident Report" with an enhanced image from a ground surveillance radar tower, in which personnel were directed to follow an object and gather information. The released article did not give the date of that incident, and it is not clear whether it concerns 1957 or a later event.[2]
People and topics
- Department of Energy — The U.S. department that runs the nuclear weapons laboratories.
- Levelland UFO case — The November 1957 Texas reports of a glowing object that stalled car engines.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
On the Timeline
- Mach 3 radar target alert (1957) (24 September 1957) — The Air Force intelligence chief warns of a radar target crossing the U.S. at Mach 3.
- Hill AFB landing claim (1958) (1958) — An anonymous military source claims a UAP deliberately landed at Hill AFB.
See every 1957 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "Amarillo Globe-Times report, 8 Nov 1957", Real TV UFOs · realtvufos.blogspot.com · archived copy
- "Pantex identified in latest batch of declassified UFO documents", NewsChannel 10 (22 May 2026) · newschannel10.com · archived copy
- "UAP incursion at Pantex nuclear facility", UAP Register (Substack) · uapregister.substack.com · archived copy
- Levelland UFO case — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "The most credible UFO sighting in Texas happened 67 years ago", KFYO · kfyo.com · archived copy
- Pantex Plant — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Pentagon UFO files and the Texas nuclear plant — Interesting Engineering · interestingengineering.com · archived copy
- Did UFOs take a trip to the Pantex plant? — Mix 94.1 · mix941kmxj.com · archived copy
- nicap.org · nicap.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
No discussion yet.