About Stephenville UFO sightings
The Stephenville UFO sightings were a mass sighting of large, bright, silent lights over Stephenville, Texas, and nearby towns on the evening of January 8, 2008. Numerous residents and pilots reported fast-moving objects, sometimes allegedly pursued by military jets. While skeptics and the Air Force attributed the event to training F-16s with afterburners and flares, UFO investigators argued that radar data indicated an unidentified object.
- Also known as
- Stephenville Lights; the Stephenville Event
- Date
- About 6:15–7:30 p.m. CST, 8 January 2008
- Area
- Stephenville, Dublin and surrounding towns, Erath County, Texas
- Key witnesses
- Steve Allen (pilot and businessman); Constable Lee Roy Gaitan
- Military activity
- F-16s of the 457th Fighter Squadron, 301st Fighter Wing, in the Brownwood Military Operating Areas
- Investigations
- MUFON radar report (July 2008); James McGaha / Skeptical Inquirer (2009)
- Proposed explanation
- F-16s with afterburners and illumination flares
- Location
- Stephenville, Texas
- Coordinates
- 32.2200, -98.2000 ↗
The full story, section by section
The story of Stephenville UFO sightings in 7 parts. Tap any part to read it in full.
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BackgroundStephenville, a town of about 17,000 people some 100 miles southwest of Dallas, is known mainly for its dairy farms, and locals call it the "milk capital of the world".Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
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The sightingsBetween about 6:15 and 7:30 p.m.Read this part →
The Erath County Courthouse in Stephenville. · Photo: The original uploader was Billy Hathorn at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons -
Media attentionThe Stephenville Empire-Tribune reported the story on 10 January, through its reporter Angelia Joiner, and the Dublin Citizen also covered it.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
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The Air Force's changing storyMajor Karl Lewis, public affairs officer for the 301st Fighter Wing at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, about sixty nautical miles away, initially said none of the base's jets had been operating near Stephenville.Read this part →
F-16C fighters of the 301st Fighter Wing, Air Force Reserve Command. Ten of its F-16s were training near Stephenville that evening. · Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael Ammons, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons -
Radar dataThrough Freedom of Information Act requests, MUFON obtained FAA primary radar data from five antennas in the region.Read this part →
Downtown Dublin, Texas, where MUFON held its public session for witnesses on 19 January 2008. · Photo: Renelibrary, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons -
Flares and afterburnersMcGaha concluded that the F-16s were flying training manoeuvres involving extraordinarily bright LUU-2B/B illumination flares.Read this part →
The exhaust of an F-16. Many witnesses described jets using afterburners that looked like rocket flames. · Photo: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons -
Later sightings and legacyFurther sightings were reported around Stephenville in the autumn of 2008.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
Related cases & events
Events and sightings linked to Stephenville UFO sightings:
Programs, organizations & documents
The official programs, groups and papers involved:
🏢 Organization · 13 min readU.S. Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the air service branch of the U.S. armed forces that became an independent service in September 1947.
📄 Document · 13 min readFreedom of Information ActThe Freedom of Information Act is a United States law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966, requiring federal executive agencies to release records upon request unless they fall under specific exemptions. The statute allows federal courts to …
🏢 Organization · 7 min readScientific Coalition for UAP StudiesThe Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies is a nonprofit organisation of scientists and professionals that applies scientific methods to study unidentified aerial phenomena. Founded in 2017, the organization has grown to hundreds of members and focuses on comp…Related topics & places
Ideas, terms and places that come up in the story:
📍 Place · 6 min readFort WorthFort Worth is a city in Texas that is significant in UFO history because debris from the Roswell incident was flown to its army air field in July 1947. At the airfield, reporters photographed the material while General Roger Ramey presented it as a weather ba…
📖 Term · 4 min readBlack triangleA black triangle is a type of UFO report describing a large, dark, triangular object usually seen at night with pulsing colored lights at the corners. Numerous sightings have occurred internationally since 1960, including prominent waves in the Hudson Valley,…🛸 UFO sightings near Stephenville sightings
17 sightings on ufos.dev were reported within 100 km. The most-upvoted:
Sightings that mention Stephenville UFO sightings
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Questions & answers
What is Stephenville UFO sightings?
Stephenville UFO sightings: The Stephenville UFO sightings were a mass sighting of large, bright, silent lights over Stephenville, Texas, and nearby towns on the evening of January 8, 2008. Numerous residents and pilots reported fast-moving objects, sometimes allegedly pursued by military jets. While skeptics and the Air Force attributed the event to training F-16s with afterburners and flares, UFO investigators argued that radar data indicated an unidentified object. Read: Stephenville UFO sightings →
Where is Stephenville UFO sightings?
Stephenville UFO sightings is in Stephenville, Texas (about 32.220, -98.200). Read: Stephenville UFO sightings →
What else is Stephenville UFO sightings called?
Stephenville UFO sightings is also known as Stephenville Lights; the Stephenville Event.
What was Phoenix Lights?
Phoenix Lights: The Phoenix Lights were a series of widely witnessed unidentified lights that appeared over Arizona and southern Nevada on the evening of March 13, 1997. The event involved two main occurrences: a V-shaped formation of lights in the early evening and a row of stationary or slow-falling lights in the Phoenix area later that night. Investigators and military officials explained the sightings as A-10 aircraft flying in formation and illumination flares dropped during training exercises, though various witnesses and former Governor Fife Symington rejected these explanations. Read: Phoenix Lights →
What is U.S. Air Force?
U.S. Air Force: The United States Air Force is the air service branch of the U.S. armed forces that became an independent service in September 1947. Read: U.S. Air Force →
What is Freedom of Information Act?
Freedom of Information Act: The Freedom of Information Act is a United States law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966, requiring federal executive agencies to release records upon request unless they fall under specific exemptions. The statute allows federal courts to order the release of improperly withheld documents and has been repeatedly amended by Congress and altered by various executive orders over the years. Read: Freedom of Information Act →
What is Fort Worth?
Fort Worth is a city in Texas that is significant in UFO history because debris from the Roswell incident was flown to its army air field in July 1947. At the airfield, reporters photographed the material while General Roger Ramey presented it as a weather balloon, a claim later described in witness affidavits as a cover story to divert the press. Read: Fort Worth →
What is Black triangle?
Black triangle: A black triangle is a type of UFO report describing a large, dark, triangular object usually seen at night with pulsing colored lights at the corners. Numerous sightings have occurred internationally since 1960, including prominent waves in the Hudson Valley, Belgium, and Phoenix. These sightings have been explained in various ways, such as aircraft in formation, flares, blimps, drones, and a British Ministry of Defence study attributing them to buoyant plasmas. Read: Black triangle →
Have UFOs been reported near Stephenville UFO sightings?
17 sightings on ufos.dev were reported within 100 km of Stephenville UFO sightings, and 11 mention it by name. Sightings near Stephenville UFO sightings →