December 16, 1953 — nr. Agoura, CA
4:58 p.m. Lockheed Skunk Works chief Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson and his wife Althea (near Agoura, California) and a Lockheed crew (Rudy Thoren, Roy Wimmer, and 3 others) flying the WV-2 Warning Star aircraft near Long Beach, California, independently of each other observe a black flying-wing (or ellipse or crescent-shaped) object about 170–230 feet wide flying at about 15,000 ±2,000 feet altitude to the west, hovering about 30–60 miles away.
At 5:04 p.m., after four minutes (to the Johnsons) and six minutes (to WV-2 crew) the UFO suddenly takes off in a shallow climb accelerating to approximately earth escape velocity (25,000 mph) to the west over the Pacific. It disappears in 10–13 seconds (to WV-2 crew) or in 90 seconds (to Johnson using 8x binoculars) after reaching 90+ miles altitude. [Eberhart]
Record Card:
Chief Engineer (Kelly Johnson) Statement:
Chief Flight Engineer Statement (Rudy Thoren):
Chief Aerodynamic Engineer (Phillip Colman):
Roy Wimmer Statement:
Sources:
Joel Carpenter, “The Lockheed UFO Case, 1953,” IUR 26, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 3–9, 33;
Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 966, p. 206;
NICAP, “The Lockheed UFO Case”;
Wikipedia, “Kelly Johnson (engineer)”;