Charles A. Carson

California Highway Patrol officer

On August 13, 1960, California Highway Patrol Officer Charles A. Carson and his partner Stanley Scott witnessed a large, glowing, oblong object near Corning, California, that they initially mistook for a crashing airliner. The object descended silently to 100–200 feet, reversed direction, and performed high-speed maneuvers, including sweeping the area with a huge red light beam and causing radio interference as it approached their patrol car.

Key details of the incident include:

Witnesses and Corroboration: The sighting lasted over two hours and was confirmed by Air Force radar operators at the nearby Red Bluff air station, who later retracted this confirmation. Additional witnesses included two sheriff’s deputies and a jailer who observed the same object.

Object Description: Carson described the object as football-shaped, approximately 150 feet long, with definite red lights at each end and occasional white lights in between.

Official Explanation and Rejection: The Air Force later attributed the sighting to a refraction of the planet Mars and stars due to temperature inversions. Carson, an Air Force veteran and private pilot, strongly rejected this explanation, stating he was familiar with atmospheric phenomena and that the object’s behavior was "unbelievable."

Aftermath: Carson filed a detailed report with the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), maintaining that the object displayed intelligence by reacting to their movements.

[ photo: Charles A. (Kit) Carson and Stanley B. Scott ]