In the summer of 1977 in West Pittsburg, in the Contra Costa County area of California, three teenage boys would claim to witness a “flying saucer” land. Their account garnered enough interest to eventually earn itself a place in the 2nd April 1978 edition of the Oakland Tribune. And their story wasn’t told with a mocking tone, with all three of the boys still suffering nightmares over the incident.

As easy it might have been to dismiss the teenager’s accounts, the police would interview them all separately. All would tell the same story, and all exhibited genuine displays of fear in relation to their encounter. Whatever came to the ground in a purposeful and controlled landing that evening in California, it was unlikely to have been nothing more than the teenager’s imaginations.

The incident is also one that will likely, and unfortunately, offer no further details. However, like many other such sightings and encounters, should it remain in the conscious of the UFO community, it may prove one day to be the missing piece to another account and ultimately be a part of a much larger answer.

“Three Miles In Five Seconds!”

At around 11 pm on 20th May 1977, Lennie Young, George Ferrera, and Patrick Morrison – all 14-years-old – were sitting enjoying the California night sky, mulling over their options on how to spend what remained of the evening. They were in a quiet field in between the Santa Fe Railroad tracks and the Suisun Bay marsh regions. The boys would often come here, particular Lennie.

Suddenly, the teenagers would notice a “group of bright red lights” with a “blue light flitting like a firefly” in between them. The lights remained at exactly the same distance from each other suggesting they were all connected to one structure. The young boys watched the object hover for several moments before it then sped off into the distance. When they made their report later, it was estimated that the object traveled around three miles in only five seconds.

A slight sigh of relief that the strange craft had left them soon turned into a nervous gasp only seconds later, however. The bizarre object was suddenly back overhead. And this time it was descending. The three teenagers looked on from their spot in the lonely field as the strange craft came down to the ground.

On the side of the “round, but flat” object was a row of square lights that the boys believed to be windows. Various lights would blink and flash in no apparent sequence. Aside from the lights and general outline of the craft around 150-feet ahead of them, and the dim light from a liquor store across from the field, all around was swallowed by black. Then, something came of the darkness.

“They Were Not People! They Were Something Else!”

Three humanoid figures came out of the darkness heading directly towards the three teenagers. Lennie would later state, “They were like smoke. They were black and had no faces. I don’t know if they had arms or heads”. He would estimate them to be between five and six feet tall. Recalling how well he knew the field, even claiming to have stayed there “all night” previously, he would state in his report, “I know what people look like walking in the dark. They were not people. They were something else”.

Pat agreed that they walked “weird”. He would also recall how they appeared to wear “long skirts over their heads”. They also walked “as if they were linked together”. George would state they “walked like robots” and that they were “gray objects with a kind of human shape, but no eyes”. Incidentally, it would seem that of all the boys, George would take the incident harder than the others. He still suffered regular nightmares up to a year following the incident.

It was as these strange robot-like creatures were approaching the teenagers that they suddenly found their feet and ran. It appeared, at least from their perspective, that the three humanoids were following them. They eventually lost sight of them, however, and arrived, scared and breathless at Pat’s house.

Destined To Remain Unexplained

It was Pat’s mother who rang the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s office. Deputy Sheriff Douglas Pendleton would speak to all three of the boys personally. He immediately ruled out alcohol or drug intake. And as well as being impressed with the similarity between their stories, he further bought into their sincerity when they offered to take lie-detector tests to prove they were telling the truth.

UFO investigator, Richard Haines, would also speak with each of the young boys. He too believed their story was too solid to be a lie. And their fright all too real. Haines would also point to the fact the weather was clear that evening over West Pittsburg, with no ground fog of any kind. Essentially, their sighting was very unlikely to be a mistaken natural aerial phenomenon sighting. Furthermore, the colors and structure of the craft didn’t match any known military or commercial aircraft.

Despite the apparent authenticity of the three teenagers, however, the case would ultimately stall. What’s more, it will most likely remain unexplained barring any matching accounts that might come to light in the future. None of the teenagers experienced missing time and there were no signs of abduction. Hence, hypnotic regression would be of no use and would reveal nothing further. Also, there were no physical signs of a landing at the site the boys witnessed the craft. And, due to the already secluded location, there were no other witnesses to offer another point of view and to add to the timeline of events.

There are, however, similar sightings on record which took place, relatively speaking, around the same time as the West Pittsburg incident. Before we look at one of those sightings, however, check out the short video below. It features a recent UFO sighting over West Pittsburg, California.

Light Over The California Desert

Just over two years later in June 1979, in the city of Twentynine Palms in southern California, came a similar and equally intriguing encounter. The witness, who wished to remain anonymous, was a member of the US Marines and was stationed at one of the several bases in the region. On this particular night, around 1 am, he was driving through the National Monument Park. He was on a particularly lonely stretch of road and his was the only vehicle on it. This was something not lost on him when his car suddenly stalled and came to a stop. It was around this time the witness felt that his thoughts, although clear, were not entirely his own.

He had, for example, a sudden and intense urge to exit his car and “walk out towards the desert”, which he ultimately did. It wasn’t long before he confused his bearings, however, and he was soon lost. Suddenly, he noticed a strange flashing ahead of him. It seemed to be getting closer and by the time it was directly over him a sudden wave of dizziness forced him to collapse to the desert sand. The last thing he recalled seeing was a row of lights approaching him.

He would awake to find a tall woman standing over him. Long blond hair flowed neatly from her head which also contained two welcoming bright blue eyes. She adorned a one-piece silver outfight, tight to her frame, which came up to her chin in a collar. She was looking at the dazed soldier and then went to help him to his feet. As he stood upright and cleared his head he could see a large silver disc-shaped craft behind the woman.

Blond Alien-Women And Robot-Like Humanoids!

As he focused more on the craft he noticed a ramp extending from it towards the ground. Two extremely tall human-looking people – around seven feet – walked down the ramp. They each donned the same shining attire as the woman now stood at his side. They, though, also adorned a “mirror polished helmet” that obscured each of their facial features.

Behind this mystery pair came another humanoid. This one had the movements of a robot and stood at around eight-feet tall. Once this taller “robot-like” figure reached the bottom of the ramp it remained still, as if standing guard. Along with the woman with long, blond hair the witness would go aboard the craft. However, the only lasting memory of the time inside was of standing in a large room full of “military weaponry”. The witness has not undergone any hypnotic regression to recover other memories of the incident and it is highly likely, like the incident from 1977, that very little, if any, further information will be available regarding this most intriguing extraterrestrial encounter.

Incidentally, the detail of a blond “alien” woman with bright blue eyes comes up more often than we might think. And while, perhaps understandably, this kind of outlandish detail is often a warning sign of delusion to many UFO researchers, it is a detail that perhaps is indicative of a specific race of aliens making regular visits to Earth. And, as some UFO researchers suspect, it might be that their DNA will be remarkably similar to, if not exactly, like our own.

Check out the short video below. It features a recent UFO sighting over Twentynine Palms, California.