NUFORC UFO Sighting 176569
Occurred: 2023-07-02 01:19 Local
Reported: 2023-07-03 12:29 Pacific
Duration: 2 mins
No of observers: 2

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA
Location details: We were driving through I-5 north

Shape: Other
Explanation: Aircraft - Probable
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

We were driving through I5 when a craft appeared on drivers side then flew past windshield then on the left side with 3 bright lights.

My son and I were driving on I5 south. We were currently on Coalinga that time. We came from Arizona and was driving to Tacoma WA. While I was driving I saw lights that suddenly appeared on my left. It looked like strobe lights but very faint. I thought they were fireworks at first. I then saw a very faint outline of what I could only assume was a craft. It looked like something invisible but you can still see the shimmer and the outline so you know something is there. Then all of a sudden it materialized and 3 very bright lights came on. The lights were so bright they looked like spotlights you can see from afar. Then as suddenly as it appeared, the light turned off and the craft flew directly in front of my windshield then went to the passenger side. Please note that I was driving at 90mph during that time. I woke my son up and he started recording it when it was on his side. When it flew past my windshield I saw that it was a grayish brown in color and from what I saw did not look like metal. It was some kind of textured material. I would say it looked like some kind of "skin". I might sound crazy but it looked like the skin of a dragon. Also for some reason, it looked like it was flying at a 45 degree angle. Like a plane with the nose up. I may be seeing things but that's how it looked to me. For background, I am a nurse and I work for the health department. I do believe we are not alone but I am also very skeptical when someone says they saw a ufo. My son works as a service advisor and has the same outlook as me. So when I tried telling my friends and family about it, it felt like I was making it up. It was a very frustrating feeling. And made me wonder to myself if I was seeing things.

So when my son finally started recording, the craft was on our left side. It was flying very low and had so sound or any exhaust that I can see. It turned a bit towards us and the three bright lights came on again. To me it looked like the lights were at the end of long tubes if that makes sense. After the lights turned on, it slightly turned and just disappeared. My son told me that he saw the underside and it looked invisible. Like when something is being cloaked but you can still a distortion or a shimmer around it. There was no sound and the way it was moving looks like it had no trouble going in any direction at all. There were other cars on the highway but they far from us. But other cars must have seen the very bright lights that came on twice.

From the video it looks like an aircraft of some sort. But from our perspective, it looked very different. I am reporting this in case someone else saw it so I wouldn't think I was seeing things. As for my feelings during that time, it did not feel threatening or dangerous. It felt curious to me.

Both my son and I just wanted to get home quickly and were not even thinking anything remotely about ufo's. So it wasn't that we wanted to see something that wasn't there. If it was a ufo then it was really cool we saw it. If it was an aircraft or drone of some sort, it was still cool to see the advanced technology of drones today.

NUFORC Note:

There is a Naval air base in the vicinity. Likely training exercise.








Posted 2023-07-10

NUFORC UFO Sighting 120802
Occurred: 2015-07-31 20:40 Local
Reported: 2015-08-02 08:23 Pacific
Duration: 5 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Light


Very bright, as compared to star background. Definitely not an airplane. Too fast, no flashing lights.

Traveled about 110 deg arc, just under 5 mins traveling north by north east. Possible satellite or ISS??? Not a comet as too slow. Was a steady light until disappeared faded about 20 degrees above horizon.




NUFORC Note:

Not the ISS, which was visible from Coalinga at 21:31, and again at 23:09 hrs. (local). PD


Posted 2015-08-06

NUFORC UFO Sighting 112714
Occurred: 2014-08-20 23:30 Local
Reported: 2014-08-21 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 1 minute
No of observers: 4

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

UFO sighting 4 lights

My daughter, son in-law, his sister & kids were driving northbound I-5 about 11:30 pm when they saw something with four lights fly right over their car.

She says it was too close to be a plane & when they looked back, it was gone!

Posted 2014-08-22

NUFORC UFO Sighting 109949
Occurred: 2014-05-22 21:15 Local
Reported: 2014-06-04 14:13 Pacific
Duration: 45 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Electrical or magnetic effects

Sighted multiple shaped craft over California State Hwy 152/I5 on May 22, 2014 between 9:30pm and 10:15pm.

UFO Sighting May 22, 2014.

California State Route HWY 152 East bound to I-5 South bound at Coalinga Road Conditions Clear/ Traffic Moderate / Temperature 65 to 70 degrees F. / Windy

At approximately 9:00pm to 9:20pm, while travelling east bound from San Francisco on California State Hwy 152 towards Interstate 5, my daughter sitting in the front passenger seat of our vehicle asked if I could see an object in the sky. I was sitting in the rear driver's side of our vehicle but looked out the drivers side window and did see a huge, very brightly lit object. It was not a linear shape as I expected to see, but an oblique yet rounded object of massive size with blinding lights.

My husband could not look at the object very long as he was driving, and the lights were so bright, dangerously so. My daughter clearly saw the object and was becoming somewhat excited by it's unique, unexplainable nature. I only had a few seconds of vision before it (or we) moved beyond my line of vision. My daughter in the front passenger seat continued to track the object for several minutes through the front windshield until we moved beyond it and her line of vision was also lost.

Upon coming to the I-5 interstate (approx. 20 minutes later) we took the south bound exit and continued traveling towards Los Angeles. After a few minutes my daughter once again asked if we saw an object in the sky. Initially my vision was again obstructed. I could not see out of her passenger side window so instead I started looking out my rear side window. Off in the distance I could see bright flashes of light and a thick cloud mass. The flashes of light were not streaks of lightening but the kind that is more horizontal and widespread. There was a noticeable tingle in the air and the heavy cloud mass looked like it was rolling.

I asked my daughter if she could see the light flashes and clouds and she said yes, then suddenly I looked towards the front the the windshield and could clearly see a triangular object flying low towards the passenger side of the vehicle.

The object was moving very fast and changing directions and stopping in short spurts. There were bright red and white lights pulsating from the craft. It was not only triangular in shape but the craft moved in ways I had no explanation for. From side to side with no arching and up and down with no regard to speed or conventional pattern.

My daughter was able to track it once again from the passenger side of the vehicle and she also started to film the object while describing it to me. It now looked as though there were multiple objects flying through the sky, some very high and very fast. This went on for some time and I could now smell and see cattle stockades out of my rear passenger window.

The triangular object then flew back across the highway very low and ended up on the drivers side of our vehicle where it stopped near an overpass. We all exclaimed that whatever it was it could cause a wreck flying so low and over the highway with the bright lights on. The lights of this craft were not as bright as the ones on the craft we saw on State Highway 152, but they were certainly bright enough to be a potential hazard and a distraction for drivers.

My daughter decided to report the object to the California Highway Patrol which she called on her cell phone. The time was exactly 10:15 pm and we were at the Coalinga exit. She explained what she had seen and was transferred to the correct person by dispatch. She told them what she had seen and of her concerns about the danger to traffic as well as the unsettling, unexplained nature of the craft. Before she could finish she was abruptly told that there was a airstrip nearby and the receiver hung up.

This experience has stayed with us and has become a very real, yet unexplainable, part of our lives. We have never felt compelled to document an experience like this before. We have never before called the Highway Patrol or Police from a moving vehicle to report something unexplained.

My daughter's video is very dark and it is difficult to clearly see anything but flashes of light. Perhaps someone with better technology can clean up the picture and make out discernible shapes and offer some insight into what we saw and experienced on May 22nd, 2014.

Posted 2014-06-06

NUFORC UFO Sighting 95786
Occurred: 2013-01-03 05:50 Local
Reported: 2013-01-03 17:14 Pacific
Duration: 1 hour
No of observers: 3

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Disk
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object, Changed Colo

A saucer shape object that seemed lilted & it was hovering in place & sometimes it seemed small then it would get bigger at times.

I was at work before sunrise around 5:50 am. I was in the back of my work site when I spotted a bright white light object & sometimes it was radomes colors.

It started moving around and it seemed at times very small & then it would appear bigger.

I started taking pictures of the-object & videos. So I can look at it latter.

What got my attention was that it seemed like it was hovering around.

Posted 2013-02-04

NUFORC UFO Sighting 76942
Occurred: 2010-07-31 22:50 Local
Reported: 2010-08-01 21:53 Pacific
Duration:
No of observers: 2

Location: Coalinga (near), CA, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Lights on object, Changed Colo

Interstate-5 sighting.

As my friend and I were driving back from a trip to Los Angeles on interstate 5 we noticed 4 really bright lights up ahead over the fields.

The lights went off and then changed to an orange color as it was doing some sort of pattern. It then hovered off in the distance and the lights turned to a red color.

As we continued to drive past it the lights turned white again and then back to orange. I was driving so it was hard for me to focus on it. But, my friend said she noticed that it had a disk shape to it.

Posted 2010-08-24

NUFORC UFO Sighting 76646
Occurred: 2010-07-18 22:15 Local
Reported: 2010-07-19 03:01 Pacific
Duration: 5 min
No of observers: 1

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Changed Colo

Low flying black triangle, 3 bright lights scanning the ground, also performing acrobatics flipping end over end

I was traveling south bound on I-5 on my way to southern California and I look left over the oncoming lane of traffic and I see 3 lights in a triangle shape. And then I get a little interested in that and I look again and I see that it dipped down to where I couldn't see it. I kept looking over to glimpse it...I thought I lost it but I kept looking anyway because I kept seeing bits of it through some bushes.

About 10 sec pass until I see it again, and it's fairly low to the ground; it looks like it's moving quickly so it must be have been somewhat close. Maybe 50-70 yards away.

So I see it again and it pops up and this time, I saw more lights on it. Each corner of the triangle had white lights and there are more along the edge that were turning on and off in a random pattern...some would flicker, blue ones flickered, but could have been other colors too. It was black as the night sky except for the pattern of lights on each edge of the triangle. And I could see this by the time it swooped up from a lower position. So it would swoop up and then it would flip or tumble and then swoop very low to the ground. It would swoop and tumble and traverse through the air while tumbling. Like it was a black triangle flipping end on end.

3 big bright white lights would light up on the edge of it. And they would get really bright every time it would swoop down. It would probably be down for 3 sec at a time, then it would go up again and tumble again. And when it would tumble, it would stay up for about 10 sec at a time just doing random things in the air, flip up over end, go through the air at the same time, looked very random.

Dip back down, flatten out...looked triangle the whole time, then it would go down and the 3 white lights would swell and look like head lights. Then would go back up and other lights would come back on. It did this about 4 to 5 times that I saw and then I got to the overpass and called my girlfriend to tell her about it...looked behind me on the phone and saw it again. From that point onward I didn't see it dip down again. I took the next off ramp (W Kamm Ave), took the overpass and parked. I could still see it but by that time it looked like a normal plane in the air because of it's lights. It traveled away, north, for about 2 minutes until it was out of sight.

The most incredible thing about the sight was how close to the ground it would get. I thought it was landing at times and then it would go up again.

The 3 bright lights that shone down seemed to illuminate the ground, like it was scanning something.

Posted 2010-07-19

NUFORC UFO Sighting 62898
Occurred: 2008-04-24 03:00 Local
Reported: 2008-04-27 00:28 Pacific
Duration: 5 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object

Low flying unmarked craft flying crazy over freeway, just short of Harris Ranch Airfield and hwy 198, outside Coalinga

After a vacation at Disneyland, my family decided to drive straight through back to the Bay Area, rather than stay another night. It was around 3am, perhaps a bit earlier, when we saw the bright lights swooping low over the freeway and making radical turns, repeatedly flying over a nearby grove of fruit trees and then over the freeway again. The shape looked triangular, but I could not tell for sure since all I could see were the three lights (could be three sets of two lights each). I could not see any markings, or even the shape, but I got the impression that it seemed to be a "flying wing" like the B2 bomber, from the positioning of the lights (one forward, two a little further back and on the sides).

The seems just like the other reports for the object near Coalinga on this site. There were no red and blue lights like standard aircraft have. This was very low, and there were other cars on the roadway that spotted it. I was somewhat dismissive of this as any sort of alien craft, seeing as we were just a mile or so short of the "Harris Ranch Airfield", near Hwy 198. I made many remarks about the craft, being careful not to mention "UFO", but my elderly father, who I was with, did mention it.

I still am not convinced this is an alien craft, however it most certainly is and "unidentified flying object", and it was being flown highly illegally.

I did make sure that the lights were in perfect formation, so I was completely convinced this was a single craft, and not a formation of several.



Posted 2008-06-12

NUFORC UFO Sighting 58837
Occurred: 2007-09-16 22:30 Local
Reported: 2007-09-20 21:12 Pacific
Duration: 5 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Oval
Characteristics: Lights on object

Oval brilliant blue light fell silently straight down from 30 degrees to the horizon after a UFO talk.

At about 10:30 PM, while driving on US 5, to the west of US 5, I saw a brilliant blue orb fall from the sky. It started at about 30 degrees above the southern horizon and fell to about 5 degrees above the horizon where I lost view of it. I cried out,"Oh!" when I saw it and Yael got a glimpse of it as well. No sound was associated with the object. It did not appear to be a shooting star because it was moving too slowly so close to the horizon.

It took place about 150 miles North of Los Angeles in the same general vicinity of where I saw a brilliant blue orb fall from the sky on July 28th. This event occured after I gave a talk to 70 people at Bay Area Mufon where I emphasized the what I believe is a consciousness link between UFO experiencers and the intelligence behind the phenomenon, presumably ET in nature.

Posted 2007-10-08

NUFORC UFO Sighting 57805
Occurred: 2007-07-19 00:30 Local
Reported: 2007-07-22 23:54 Pacific
Duration: 15 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams

Kite-shaped triangle UFO sighting on Interstate 5 in Coalinga, California, on July 19, 2007

large kite-shaped flying object with three bright headlights hovered over our care, then turned over on it's back, then back over again, then flew over the top of a field, then straight up, then back over the freeway again. at one point, it came straight at the side of our car and suddenly banked up, making us think it was going to hit us! There were other cars on the freeway who hit their brakes but I did not talk to anyone else.




NUFORC Note:

Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD


Posted 2007-08-07

NUFORC UFO Sighting 51742
Occurred: 2006-07-26 03:00 Local
Reported: 2006-07-26 14:24 Pacific
Duration: 5 MINUTES
No of observers: 5

Location: Colinga (near), CA, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Emitted other objects

LIGHTS SEEN ON 5 NORTH NEAR COALINGA

WE WERE DRIVING ON THE 5 NORTH FROM L.A TO SACRAMENTO SUNDAY EARLY MORNING MAYBE 2 TO 3 AM. MY DAD AND I SAW A COUPLE OF LIGHTS THAT LOOKED LIKE A PLAIN OUT OF CONTROL. AS WE APPROACHED IT IT WENT TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FREWAY ALL THE WAY TO SOMETHING LIKE A BARN ELEVATED ITSELF ANS SHOT SOMETHING THAT LOOK LIKE A FIREBALL. AS I SAW THAT I DECIDED TO SPEED AHEAD TO MY SUPRICE IT TURNED BACK AND WENT RIGHT AT US LUCKILY THERE WAS A BIG RIG ON THE OTHER LANE SO I SHIELDED THE CAR WITH THE RIG. THE THING FLEW ON TOP TO THE OTHER SIDE BUT DID NOT FOLLOW, IT STAYED AROUND THE SAME AREA AND TURNED TO THREE LIGTHS AND SHOT ANOTHER FIREBALL. THIS HAPPENED ON THE FIVE NORTH ABOUTH 1 1/2 HOURS AFTER THE GRAPEVINE. THE OBJECT MOVED AS IF A PLANE WAS STRUGGLING TO KEEP CONTROL, LIKE A PAPER PLANE BADLY DONE IF ANYBODY SAW THIS PLEASE LET ME KNOW I AM NOT A BELIEVER BUT THIS WAS KIND OF SCARY ((e-address deleted))

Posted 2006-10-30

NUFORC UFO Sighting 45976
Occurred: 2005-08-27 01:30 Local
Reported: 2005-09-02 00:13 Pacific
Duration: 4 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object

Unexplained Encounter Along California's I-5 Freeway With Highly Manueverable and Partially Lit Low Flying Craft

While driving north on Interstate 5 in California at 1:30 am on August 27th 2005,my brother and I encountered a flying object that was maneuvering quickly back and forth across the freeway.

We caught sight of this object in the vicinity of an overpass approximately 15 miles east of Coalinga. Initially we saw three lights that were lower in height than the overpass and they appeared to be heading south along the freeway, making a sharp turn to the east.

As we approached the object it had turned around and was heading northwest along the freeway. At this point we saw strobe lights on each side. It turned around again heading straight for the traffic and we thought that it might be a plane making an emergency landing.

At this point I began to brace for the worst believing that it might crash land into the cars, but it crossed right in front of us just skimming above the cars on the freeway. I craned my neck around to get a closer look as it passed overhead and to the south east behind us.

It maneuvered incredibly quickly around almost as if it had flipped over (inverting itself),throughout performing extremely tight turns and came back at full speed to make a quick pass overhead again.

At this point I saw two blue strobe lights on its back outer edges. We were travelling at approximately 65 miles an hour and it kept up right with us. A number of cars had overtaken us by this time leaving us alone to observe this object.

I had become quite nervous by this time and did not feel safe being around this object. My brother wanted to stop to take a closer look, but I felt uneasy because of its erratic behaviour and because I did not want to cause any more traffic hazards myself.

The three large round lights that were spaced evenly across the front of the object cast subdued lighting rather than bright headlights.

We estimated the size of the object as approximately four car widths across, having a black (triangular shaped?) main section. It performed aerobatic movements with ease at very low height and we heard no sound.

Posted 2005-10-11

NUFORC UFO Sighting 48003
Occurred: 2005-08-27 01:30 Local
Reported: 2005-12-01 16:17 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object

Triangular lighted object gives an amazing acrobatic display on I-5, August 27, 2005. 1:30 AM.

I was on I-5 northbound somewhere near Colinga returning from a trip from Nevada with my daughter. It was approx. 1:30 AM, my daughter was asleep.

There was an overpass in the distance maybe one half mile ahead when I saw an amazing acrobatic display of three lights (all attached to one flying vehicle, I could not see the structure of the vehicle itself but the lights were attached to something triangular). The lights were a blinding white and bluish color, almost like the headlights on new european import cars. The vehicle was flying very low turning rapidly and banking east to west then north to south along the freeway. I had the window down on my vehicle and was traveling approx. 75 mph, I heard no destinctive sounds. I was surprised that other cars were not stopping ( I did not stop either), I thought that this might be routine for local drivers. I thought that I was possibly seeing a helicopter crop dusting the citrus trees to the east of the freeway.

I am the type of person that would normally stop on the side of the freeway to see what was actually out there. I did not do so in this case, I was in awe,rattled, and honestly a little scared by the display. I have been to many air shows and aircraft events, but I have never seen this kind of performance in an aircraft at such a low altitude. The airspeed was a little faster than my driving speed of 75 mph. I estimate the aircraft's speed to be somwhere between 80 to 110 mph, but I am not quite positive.

When the event was over and I continued along the freeway I began to question what I saw: Was this a crop duster? Why would a crop duster be doing these displays over a busy freeway, and if so was he or she drunk and pulling a prank? Was this a military aircraft, and why would the military be so ignorant to pull a stunt like this over a busy freeway? Was this a sighting of a UFO? I still do not know what I saw that night and I felt the need to report it.

Posted 2005-12-16

NUFORC UFO Sighting 45514
Occurred: 2005-08-06 21:15 Local
Reported: 2005-08-07 22:30 Pacific
Duration: 3-5 mintues plus (we did
No of observers: 2

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted other objects, Changed Colo

080605, Coalinga, Flying over I5, Brightly lit Wedge shaped ufo separates into 3 objects (yellow, red, white).

Short Version: Thin Wedge shaped flying object (side view) with very bright white light crossed low over Northbound I5 near Coalinga, CA. At first we thought it was an airplane on fire about to crash. After crossing over I5, object hovered over the fields next to Southbound I5. At closer observation object had two round bright white lights. Object separated into 3 objects, each with two bright round white lights. 1 object changed color to yellow lights. One object changed color to red lights. Yellow lights flew back over I5 to fly over the fields next to Northbound I5. Objects were flying over the fields to either side of I5. Observers in car kept driving and eventually lost sight of objects behind them.

Detailed Version: What driver saw: Driving north on I5, having passed the stockyards on the right side of North I5 and maybe 5 minutes further (doing 70-80 mph). Near Exit 33 (Coalinga). Driver saw a very bright white object flying very fast from the right side of the sky. She said she knew it wasn’t natural, because it was a clear dark starry night, and it was too low for an airplane. She said it was a very bright white light. She said as it crossed over all lanes of I5 (from right to left) a half mile in front of the car, she could see in profile that it was a thin wedge shaped object that was so bright she thought it was an airplane on fire, about to crash. But it crossed over all lanes of I5 and hovered over the empty fields to the left of us, next to Southbound I5. Her impression was that it was about the size of a jet.

What I saw (Passenger): The driver had just seen a bright white object fly low across all lanes of I5 and then stabilize, hovering above the fields to the left of us. I missed this because I had my eyes closed, resting.

She said, “What was that !” and I opened my eyes to look.

I looked across the highway ahead and to our left. What I saw looked like two round bright white lights (bright like halogen lights) at about the height of a medium sized radio tower (Note – I did not see any tower). My friend, on the drivers side, had a better view, and she described it as super bright and was illuminating the field below it - bright and white as a search-light. She said she could see the leaves of the vegetation in the brightness of the light.

She asked me again what I thought it was in the field on our left.

The shape of the object appeared to me like two horizontally aligned round lights close together, as if connected or mounted near each other but not touching. I saw the bright lights but did not see that they were attached to anything (I have poor night vision and was wearing old eyeglasses). It was too dark for me to see anything in profile, all I saw was lights. I said, “Its just a radio tower" (I had NOT been looking ahead and had not seen the object flying across I5 in front of us). She insisted I was wrong, that it had flown there and was hovering, and asked me to look again. So I twisted in my seat to watch it as we passed.

At first as I stared at the bright horizontal dual-lights they were stationary in the air. Then suddenly, they tilted in the air to slant downwards at an angle (30 degrees). As I watched, a second dual-light object slid out from behind the first one (at the same angle), so that now there were two, and then a third slid into view so now there were 3 distinctly separate dual-light objects. They paused, then object3 oriented back to horizontal and flew to the right and up, away from the other two. At the same time, Objects 1 and 2 separated further from each other. It was VERY Dark, I5 has no lights. I kept my eyes on object3 so as not to lose sight of it. Suddenly, with a bright Flash, object3’s lights changed from Bright white to Bright yellow. In the peripheral of my vision I could see that another of the objects changed from white to Red at the same time. I believe the original object 1 stayed white. I confirmed this later with my friend who was driving – she had taken a glance at the object(s) as it separated and changed colors.

This all happened very quickly (maybe 10 seconds from separation to color change).

Objects moved smoothly (not in jerks) and flew smoothly while I observerd, clearly fast but did not move at jet speeds, more like fast helicopter speeds. The driver said she thought they where a little higher than an overpass, which is consistent with my observation that they were about the height of a medium sized radio tower.

The Yellow object now started to fly across I5 again, passing overhead. I looked up through the glass sunroof as object3 (the Yellow lights) passed overhead. I did not see any “shape” of an aircraft – just the yellow lights (but I was wearing my old eyeglasses). I also did not hear any aircraft engines or noise – and even though the car windows were closed, I think I would have heard jet engines or helicopter blades at the height it passed over us, if it was that sort of craft. The yellow lights (object3) hovered over the empty fields to our right, as our car drew further ahead of it. Object3 must have been also flying parallel to our direction, because it maintained its distance behind us, moving around a bit over the fields, and we were not leaving it behind as quickly as if it had been stationary. This spooked both of us, and we drove faster. It was perhaps a minute before we finally lost sight of it behind us (which is a long time when you’re doing 70-80 mph). I finally lost sight of it when it started to cross over I5 again. I twisted around in my seat to look across I5 to the fields on the left of us, looking for the other objects. I briefly saw a bright white lighted object on the side of I5 south, then lost sight of it in the dark behind us.

I looked at the time, it was 9:18 pm (pst). I estimate the duration of our sighting was from 3 to 5 minutes.

There were no headlights of traffic behind us (there had been at the start).

I am assuming other drivers slowed down or stopped to watch.

We were too spooked to stop. Traffic on Southbound lanes of I5 was becoming heavy and slowing down – I suspect due to people slowing down as well, to watch this phenomena.



Posted 2005-09-02

NUFORC UFO Sighting 178036
Occurred: 2005-08-02 23:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2023-09-04 15:00 Pacific
Duration: 20 to 25 minutes
No of observers: 15

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA
Location details: The sighting took place over Interstate 5 near Coalinga

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object

A commercial jet-sized grayish metallic boomerang with 4 bright lights witnessed performing gravity-defying maneuvers over Interstate 5

In early August 2005, either the 2nd or 3rd, I was traveling northbound on Interstate 5 from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay area. I had left Los Angeles in the evening and by the time I had made it through the Tejon pass it was after 10pm, but before midnight. It was very warm out and the sky was mostly clear. But, light pollution from traffic obscured any stars. The interstate was busy with a steady stream of cars and tractor trailers.
I was in the vicinity of Coalinga, when traffic suddenly slowed to a stop. There was an overpass ahead, for some unknown road, blocking my view, but I assumed an accident had just happened. Traffic was at a crawl on both sides of the interstate. Some cars and trucks had pulled over ahead of me and on the overpass above. They had gotten out of their vehicles and were looking ahead, to the north. I had noticed what I thought was a low flying plane also to the north of the overpass, which I took to be a crop duster or the highway patrol surveying the scene. I didn’t focus on it too much as this all happened in an instant while I was trying to focus on the traffic and not hit anyone.
I had turned off my car stereo and unrolled my driver side window to get a better sense of what was going on. Traffic was moving at a steady crawl. Just as I came out from under the overpass I saw what I initially had thought to be a small plane now diving straight down into oncoming northbound traffic, right ahead of me. I could see that it was in fact very large, the size of a commercial jet, and it appeared to be attempting to land on the interstate, at least that is what I assumed. About 10 to 20 feet before it was about to hit a tractor trailer, that was a few cars ahead of me, it suddenly pulled up and was now going straight into the sky! I put my head out of the window and watched in amazement as it traveled at a near 90 degree angle with the ground.
I was in a state of absolute astonishment. Still thinking it was somehow a jet that was about to crash I watched as it rotated several hundred feet above the interstate and started heading east. One wingtip pointed at the ground and the other pointing up to the sky. As it continued to fly, or rather glide as that would be a better description, it righted itself, turned to face the south and began abruptly descending again. This time towards a line of what looked to be Eucalyptus trees, several hundred feet from the interstate, to my right. I expected to see an explosion at any moment as the craft went out of sight behind the trees. Instead, the craft rose up above the tree line into the sky, gaining several hundred feet of altitude before leveling off and crossing the unknown road that went over the interstate. Then, it began to slightly turn towards the west and back over the interstate to the south of the overpass. Again, wingtip to wingtip in vertical alignment with the ground.
At this time I was awe-struck and began to doubt this was a conventional plane at all. There was no sound coming from the craft. No jet engine, no props, no sound at all above that of the traffic around me. By this time, the craft had leveled out, flown over the unknown road and was now on the west side, to my left. It began descending once more, towards some barren hills that were not far from the interstate. The craft went out of sight behind these hills. This time I was sure I would see an explosion. A plane couldn’t rise and fall at such angles and to such heights without an engine to support its massive size. However, no explosion occurred.

Once again, the craft rose straight up from behind the hills into the sky for several hundred feet. It then rotated forward to right itself and began heading east. As it neared the interstate it turned to face the south over the northbound traffic. And as before, it began to dive into oncoming traffic, pulling up moments before hitting the cars and trucks below it. I was watching this from my rear view mirror. Traffic was clearing ahead of me and I started navigating through the cars ahead. Cars and trucks were still pulling over to watch. I was so filled with terror that I hit the gas and sped away towards the north as soon as I was able.

By now I believed I was witnessing a UFO and instead of the astonishment that I felt previously a sense of great fear arose in me.. Having watched too many movies, I was checking the clock to make sure I hadn’t missed any time. I expected the craft to chase me, but it did not. Instead I watched it as it repeated the same flight pattern, over and over again. The interstate was almost empty of traffic beyond the jam caused by the UFO so I had an open, unobstructed, view behind me. The elevation was slightly increasing so I had a great vantage point of it as I sped northward. I watched the craft for nearly 20 minutes before the road began to curve downward and I lost sight of it. Never once did it deviate from its pattern.

The craft was huge, it dwarfed the tractor trailer that it nearly hit in front of me. Perhaps between 150 and 200 feet from wingtip to wingtip. It was boomerang shaped. I saw no tail, no fins, no engine, no vents, no labels or writing, no windows or cockpit. How long it was was hard to tell, but it couldn’t have had a fuselage more than that of a B-2 bomber. It had four large bright white lights spaced evenly across the front of its ‘wings’. They were likely several feet in diameter and extremely bright. The closest I got to it was about 50 feet and the lights were shining right at me. It was like staring down a group of security flood lamps. They were constant and did not blink or change in any way. There were no other visible lights on the craft. I could tell it was grayish beige with a metallic sheen. It appeared smooth and curved, I saw no sharp angles on it.
What struck me the most was how it moved. It glided through the air without any resistance, struggle, or stress from the incredible dives and climbs it made. Its speed was constant, and faster than that of the traffic below. When I broke through traffic I was going over 100mph, it could have easily overtaken me, but it seemed to move without urgency. As described before, it rotated several times, instead of turning but it did this while moving, it never hovered. Its movements were deliberate and calculated, amazingly smooth, and executed with exact precision. Not only did the craft not make any audible sound, it also did not generate any noticeable heat when it was near me. It had no exhaust, it made no trail in the sky. It did not produce any wind, even when it swooped past the tree line, nor did it disturb the dust and dirt of the road or fields. My car's power never gave out, nor did I experience any electronic phenomena.
Whoever was piloting this thing had no hesitation and no fear as it put what was likely over a hundred people’s lives in danger, including their own. It would go straight into the air and pull up from a dive as if the laws of motion did not apply to it. It absolutely defied the laws of gravity as I know them to be, and moved like no other flying machine I have ever seen before or since.
I had a camera, but never once thought of taking a picture. Never once did I think I should pull over and watch. There were no other flying vehicles in the sky at the time. No emergency vehicles on the ground. No sirens. The whole time I was heading north no emergency vehicles were heading south towards the craft. It was as if all was normal outside of the area where the craft was performing its stunts. In fact, I never thought to call the police, make a report, or search the internet about it until many years later. After doing a little research, this type of sighting apparently happens frequently in the area, even up until recently.

My conclusion is that whatever it was it was not government or military, as it would be too dangerous to maneuver a vehicle that large in the way it did. Not only that it would be too costly if it crashed. If it was a rogue military pilot flying some sort of experimental machine, why would they do this over such a busy road, with hundreds of witnesses? Why were no jets scrambled to intercept it, whether the craft was a known or an unknown? Lenmore Navy Air Base was nearby. They could have been there in minutes. There was nothing on the news about it. If it was a rogue pilot, military or not, surely that story would be worth covering.

I always wanted to see a UFO as a kid, but when I actually saw one I was scared out of my wits and regretted it for years afterward. Of course people thought I must be wrong or mistaken. And I have experienced my fair share of ridicule because of it. I know what I saw, I didn’t choose to see it. The craft was just there as if it had nothing better to do. However, in spite of all the negativity I have experienced from some friends over the years, I stand by what I saw. In all truth, I hope I am lucky enough to see a UFO again someday. However, next time I will make a point to stop and take a better look.







Posted 2023-09-10

NUFORC UFO Sighting 38423
Occurred: 2004-07-31 00:30 Local
Reported: 2004-07-31 18:58 Pacific
Duration: minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object

Similar sighting to the I-5 UFO phenomenon on NUFORC - probable crop duster

Referred here by a friend who saw the same event that happened the weekend of July 24 near the Manning Ave. intersection on Interstate 5 in the Central Valley of California. The night of July 30th/morning of July 31st, I was driving up by the Harris Ranch, and noticed what seemed to be a plane doing crop dusting just to the east of Harris Ranch, flying the same basic pattern as http://www.nuforc.org/S38270.jpg - the plane flew low to the ground, almost as if performing a touch-and-go maneuver (which I thought initially it was, with the landing strip by the restaurant) - I observed at least 2 1/2 loops while driving by, and saw the green identification light on the wing, along with the forward facing white light. The plane was too far off the freeway to see exactly where it was dusting, though it did seem strange to be working the fields at midnight. Then again, about 2 hours later I saw workers picking fields at 2am in San Benito.



Posted 2004-08-11

NUFORC UFO Sighting 38270
Occurred: 2004-07-12 22:15 Local
Reported: 2004-07-23 01:30 Pacific
Duration: 10 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object

previously reported triangular craft flying low over Interstate 5

On the night of July 12, 2004, my family and I embarked on a road trip from the San Francisco Bay Area to New Mexico. While travelling south on Interstate-5 in the central valley of California, at about 10:15 pm, we encountered the I-5 UFO phenomenon that has been reported to NUFORC several times since at least the year 2000. It was a triangular aircraft flying a repetitive aerobatic pattern over the interstate and swooping down very low over traffic, creating a hazard to all who were driving.

We saw it as we approached from 2 to 3 miles away, and were amazed at it's agility and audacity right from the start. It occurred 28 miles north of Highway 198 at the intersection of I-5 and the overpass of Manning Avenue. The aircraft's maneuvers were incredible, but not beyond human capability. The craft flew a fast, distinct, unchanging pattern over the interstate and overpass, swooping down to an unbelievably low level over the freeway traffic. We and every other vehicle around us slowed down to observe it, and once underneath it, we hoped we wouldn't get hit. We drove past the overpass, which was remote and had no exit/entrance ramps and then parked on the shoulder about 100 yards south of it, right below the pattern that the aircraft was flying. My wife and I tried hard to get a good look, but it was very dark; no moon and no city lights anywhere near us.

The craft seemed to be triangular, yet not an equilateral triangle. It was shaped more like a Vulcan bomber; the wings formed a wide delta, yet their leading edge intersected the fuselage well behind the nose. I could not make out the profile of the nose, yet I could see the profile of a vertical tail fin. The vertical height of the fuselage seemed thin, but not too thin for a human pilot. It's lights were completely unconventional; no strobe, no red and green position lights, no navigation light. It just had 3 big bright circular halogen white lights, about 12"-18" in diameter; one under the nose, and one at each wingtip. The nose light would turn off and then turn back on. They all shined down and forward about 45 degrees, and were built into the body; they weren't fixtures hanging down. They put out an ambient glow onto the fuselage, which was a very pale tan or grey. There were no other markings and no landing gear visible. Unlike previous reports of this phenomenon to NUFORC, which described a silent craft, (and I don't discount them), this craft made a lot of noise. In fact, it sounded like it had a single jet engine. As it approached, it made a whining, hissing sound, which turned into a roar as it passed, yet not as loud or fast as a corporate or fighter jet. The craft maintained a speed of about 80 to 100 mph throughout it's maneuvers. A high-performance engine might explain how it made steep climbs and 90 degree banking turns without stalling or losing speed.

It flew a repetitive kidney-bean shaped pattern above the freeway intersection with the overpass. It dived down and flew 15'-20' above the I-5 traffic, climbed up, hung a U-turn, then dove down to the field on the east side of the interstate, and flew an amazing 2-3 feet above the ground for about 100 yards until it approached the embankment of the overpass, then pulled up and climbed at about 45 degrees without slowing down to about 200 feet above ground, hung a sharp U-turn banking at 90 degrees to the ground,then dove down again at the interstate, and repeated this pattern over and over. Whether the pilot was an off-hours yahoo cropduster or an alien, he was out of his mind. While parked on the shoulder, we watched the aircraft fly the pattern right over us several times before driving off (my 6 year-old daughter was getting scared).

I wish I could provide a more definitive identification of the aircraft, but it was very dark that night and the craft was constantly making sharp moves: banking, climbing, and diving. My best guess is that this was a powerful, unconventional, yet terrestrial airplane, but the pilot was performing maneuvers that weren't just bold, but crazy and malicious toward the traffic on I-5. Everything about the aircraft's actions and lighting was illegal.

I called the California Highway Patrol after driving away, and the dispatcher shrugged it off, saying, "I'll put out a bulletin, but there's not much we can do. You might want to try the FAA." I'll forward this report to the FAA in the hopes that they might look into it, being that this incident constitutes crimes being committed with an aircraft. Either this is some rogue cropduster that hasn't been caught yet, or this area along I-5 is definitely a UFO hotspot.



NUFORC Note:

High quality graphic of the flight path of the object above Interstate 5 is provided by the witness. It is posted to the NUFORC website. PD


Posted 2004-07-25

NUFORC UFO Sighting 29834
Occurred: 2003-07-09 22:00 Local
Reported: 2003-07-20 11:17 Pacific
Duration: 5 to 10 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Light


While driving on I-5 north of Colinga exit (Hwy 198) around 10 pm observed increasing brignt light that caused entire area to light up.

Driving south on I-5 approximately 20 miles north of Hwy 198 around 10 pm. Entire area including hills over 1,000 feet high start to light up. Light seems to be high above and to the rear of car. Did not see object but light increased in intensity to make everyting including hill tops as visible as in day time. After 5 seconds or so the light continued to increased and then flashed and everyting went back to normal darkness.



Posted 2003-07-23

NUFORC UFO Sighting 24726
Occurred: 2002-08-16 02:00 Local
Reported: 2002-08-27 10:52 Pacific
Duration: 3 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Coalinga (near, on south I-5), CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams

triangular object with 3 huge spotlights chasing our vehicle on the freeway

I was driving south on I-5 just before Coalinga....near the slaughter house, when I saw a bright row of 3 lights swooping down as if it was landing parallel to the freeway on the northbound side. I thought it was a crop duster plane or something. It then lifted back up, as if it was aborting its landing and made a complete about face while flickering the row of 3 lights on and off...the lights were brighter than halogen and when they were off there was a small red and blue light. I was thinking it was gone but woke up my husband to tell him what I saw. While I weas waking him up it came directly at me at only a height of 2-3 stories, and flicked its lights off and on in my eyes almost making me not be able to drive. I thought for sure it was trying to land on the freeway ...it then about faced again, at which time my husband awakened...i told him nervously we "were being chased by a UFO"...as I finished the explanation of what I saw he said "you mean THAT? and it was directly above my...spotlighting me and literally chasing us at an extreme low altitude. We came up on an overpass and we were sure it was going to hit it. I accelerated to avoid the impact, and the craft dodged the overpass...followed us a moment longer then immediately almost disspeared. It had a stealth like shape...and was almost paper thin...with huge lights on the front and maneuvered like no conventional craft. We are thinking of reporting this to the highway patrol.



NUFORC Note:

We spoke to this witness at length and found her to be a highly credible source. PD


Posted 2002-08-28

NUFORC UFO Sighting 24640
Occurred: 2002-08-15 22:30 Local
Reported: 2002-08-23 09:11 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Coalinga (just outside of), CA, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

3 bright lights swooping by the freeway in a figure-of-eight-type pattern.

Driving on the I-5 south, we saw 3 bright lights approaching the freeway. At first we thought it was a plane, but as it got closer I realized that this was no plane. It was 3 bright lights moving simultaneously. They would approach the side of the freeway and loop around going really fast and then swoop down and fly back up to their starting point. almost like they were moving in a figure-of-eight pattern back and forth. as i drove by them, i noticed they were still there in my rearview mirror and at one point, they looked as if they were coming at us from behind. I have never seen anything like it before. Traffic was slowing down to observe this. I also noticed that a strikingly similar report about this same occurrence in this same area on the same freeway has been filed last year. Might that mean that there is some explanation for this?



NUFORC Note:

We have spoken with both witnesses to this incident, and they seem to us to be quite credible. PD


Posted 2002-08-28

NUFORC UFO Sighting 18728
Occurred: 2001-07-27 03:32 Local
Reported: 2001-07-30 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 5 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Coalinga (just outside), CA, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams, Changed Colo

3 of us saw a UFO on HWY 5 on 7/27 at 3:32 am -- 3 white lights with very bright beam, then red flashing light

We were driving south on Highway 5 and we spotted it just before Coalinga and about 1 to 2 miles past the huge cow slaughter house to the east of highway 5. I was in the passenger seat. Myself, the driver and another passanger all saw the same thing. We kept seeing this really bright light over the road several miles ahead. It was in the middle of nowhere and at first we thought it was some kind of plane, or airport. But then we kept seeing it going back and forth so we figured that it was an overpass and we were seeing trucks cross over. But when we got closer we realized it was something else. It was literally swooping right through the traffic -which was fairly heavy considering it was 3:32 am in the middle of nowhere. It had 3 bright white lights and when it would swoop from east to west over the highway it would shine an incredible bright beam down onto the road and surrounding ground. Then after it swooped through the traffic and rose again the beam and the 3 white lights would go off and it would turn to one red blinking light. It was not blinking consistently the same. The speed at which the red light was blinking was changing, sort of like Morse code and I wondered if it was some sort of pattern. Then it would flip around and back to the starting point. I've NEVER seen anything move like that. It was truly bizarre. It turned in all directions, end over end and side over side. It was very graceful and smooth. It didn't jump at all. It kept repeating this pattern. We passed under it and kept traveling south. When we drove under it, it was very high up with the red blinking light and it was flipping back to the starting point again. We watch it make several passes. At least 10. We continued to watch it until we were out of site. We travel back through the area almost exactly 48 hours later, there was nothing there.



NUFORC Note:

We presume the witness implies a date of July 27, 2001. We have corrected the date here. PD


Posted 2001-08-05

NUFORC UFO Sighting 71544
Occurred: 1999-07-23 23:45 Local
Reported: 2009-08-07 22:55 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Coalinga, CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object

we were driving to go to kings canyon national park and we had just got onto highway 198 east towards visalia,on the right hand side right near the harris ranch airfield we saw this craft flying low with muticolor lights,at first thought it was a helicopter or crop duster,but that late at night what would they be doing? anyways the craft flew up over the highway and it then looked like a triangle with 3 bright white lights,no sound and it came back across the highway and flew back over to the harris ranch airfield and kept heading south and then disappeared. i have seen many reports of this "interstate 5 ufo" on this site,that is what jogged my memory.



Posted 2009-08-27

NUFORC UFO Sighting 34935
Occurred: 1998-09-12 16:00 Local
Reported: 2004-02-09 00:27 Pacific
Duration: 5 seconds
No of observers: 0

Location: Harris Ranch, CA, USA

Shape: Diamond
Characteristics: Aura or haze around object, Aircraft nearby

Faster than the speed of life.

I was a hot summer day, right in the middle of the harvest season. We have been running up and down I-5 like a yo-yo since the 4th of July. North bound on I-5, bright happy sunny day, load of tomatoes behind my 18 wheeler.

Suddenly as I aproach the intersection of 198 and I-5 (Harris Ranch), oh say a few miles south of the air field, I see clearly thru the bug spattered windshield, an airfoil of some kind apparently taking off from the runway at the Texaco station of Harris Ranch Inn. I say to him "get it up, get it up, get it up" becuase his angle of attack is nearly paralell to the ground to gain sufficient speed for take-off. The wing-like aeroplan-apparition, white or silver in color then lifted at a very shallow angle and accelerated to an incredible speed directly northbound over I-5, I noticed that his wing-tips grew smaller and smaller, closer and closer together untill it was just a dot that disapeard within 5-6 seconds. At first I thought it was a Cessna or Beech or duster on the field. Cant say weather it took off north or south of 198, but is was no jet and thats for sure. A crop cirle was reported in Fresno believed to be a hoax made by a crop cirlce company. ((identifier deleted here))



NUFORC Note:

Date may be approximate, although the witness does not indicate that fact. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous. PD


Posted 2004-02-12