# December 16, 1953 — nr. Agoura, CA — The Lockheed / Kelly Johnson UFO Case

**URL:** <https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/december-16-1953-nr-agoura-ca-the-lockheed-kelly-johnson-ufo-case/432>\
**Category:** Blue Book Unknowns\
**Created:** [December 15, 2025, 11:54pm UTC](https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/december-16-1953-nr-agoura-ca-the-lockheed-kelly-johnson-ufo-case/432 "2025-12-15T23:54:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jeffknox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@jeffknox](https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/u/jeffknox)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 11:54pm UTC](https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/december-16-1953-nr-agoura-ca-the-lockheed-kelly-johnson-ufo-case/432/1 "2025-12-15T23:54:41Z")

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![12161953-nrAgouraCA-KellyJohnsonWithU2](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/d/d45619acbb762f53ef9f5eb242490cd25004aefa.jpeg)

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.

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-ObjectSketchFromBB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/4/40b9a9cbab5e7fab5daed8209aa3977645343ae9.jpeg)

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:

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-BBCard](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/b/bbd417526d1a1abd97823ca94831c26c0d8b7ad3.jpeg)

Chief Engineer (Kelly Johnson) Statement:

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-BBLockheedChiefEngStatement-1](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/d/df66f1a6f064cd4503d14c103d3878d25ccc0b0d.jpeg)

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-BBLockheedChiefEngStatement-2](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/9/96b015783b683873882e4589a2d958104c28d5bd.jpeg)

Chief Flight Engineer Statement (Rudy Thoren):

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-BBLockheedChiefFlightEngStatement-RudyThoren](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/2/2f24e6ffb01bf5ed06254480d8963561e29b6ea6.jpeg)

Chief Aerodynamic Engineer (Phillip Colman):

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-BBLockheedChiefAerodynamicsEngStatement-PhilipColman](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/6/6d5a4a69f8b1bbda53e686af999c80faa8db60cd.jpeg)

Roy Wimmer Statement:

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-BBLockheedStatement-RoyWimmer](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/8/871a14df2675d9d849572d88de39692c8fd7c091.jpeg)

Sources:  
Joel Carpenter, “The Lockheed UFO Case, 1953,” IUR 26, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 3–9, 33;

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-IURv26n3-p3](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/a/acf3d36472794fef33dd6169f26cecb9f0c141a7.jpeg)

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-IURv26n3-p4](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/d/d9e69b83196e9f952dc31535c8eeefac63a4b651.jpeg)

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-IURv26n3-p5](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/a/ac7d49c895873dc42faee3e08021f6212ecaa9d5.jpeg)

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-IURv26n3-p6](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/c/cffa6c8b8d7776920baa3c3ee170470318ebda17.jpeg)

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-IURv26n3-p7](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/5/5bff9f38cb7ce23af965afb48f234198cbe066cb.jpeg)

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-IURv26n3-p8](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/c/c63de443259a6bc694aa7ce28c28a2405f55dec0.jpeg)

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-IURv26n3-p9](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/4/45adb08844c66efa5f3ebe71acf90e5006f87a42.jpeg)

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-IURv26n3-p33](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/7/780180ed7958203fb7b615a81aa696a274a1f239.jpeg)

Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 966, p. 206;

 ![12161953-nrAgouraCA-Sparks-Case996-p206](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/3/36ca934fa2ea198ba8b0678b67cdf6af15e89fb6.png)

NICAP, “The Lockheed UFO Case”;

> **[UFO Report](http://www.nicap.org/531216agoura_dir.htm)**

Wikipedia, “Kelly Johnson (engineer)”;

> **[Kelly Johnson (engineer)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Johnson_(engineer))**
>
> Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990) was an American aeronautical and systems engineer. He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important aircraft designs, most notably the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird. Besides the first production aircraft to exceed Mach 3, he also produced the first fighter capable of Mach 2, the United States' first operational jet fighter, as well as the first fighter to exceed 400 mph, and many other contributions to va...