March 23, 1966 — Temple, OK
5:05 a.m. As Sheppard AFB (near Wichita Falls, Texas) civilian instructor William E. “Eddie” Laxson is driving west on US Highway 70 eight miles south of Temple, Oklahoma, he finds the road blocked by a wingless aircraft, shaped like a fish, in the road. It is about 75 feet long, nearly 8 feet high, 12 feet wide, with a Plexiglas bubble on top, and bright lights forward and aft. Laxson stops his car about 300 feet away and walks to within 50 feet, noticing a designation on its side like “TLA138” or “TLA738” or “TL 4768.” He sees a “man” wearing a baseball cap or mechanic’s hat climbing up steps or a ladder on the object. Soon after it lifts off with a hissing or high-speed drilling sound and heads off southeast at about 700 mph. There are no landing traces. Laxson finds another witness, truck driver C. W. Anderson, parked a mile down the road. Laxson thinks it is some kind of military vehicle. [Eberhart]
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Sources:
“Air Force Quizzes Temple Man On ‘Flying Fish-Shaped Object’,” Lawton (Okla.) Constitution, March 24, 1966, pp. 1,2;
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lawton-constitution-eddie-laxson-ufo/104442938/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lawton-constitution-eddie-laxson-ufo/104442914/
“It’s ‘Flying Saucer’ Time Again! Spring Erupts with Sightings of Those ‘Mysterious Objects.’,” Lawton (Okla.) Constitution, March 25, 1966, pp. 1,2;
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lawton-constitution-eddie-laxson-ufo/104442999/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lawton-constitution-eddie-laxson-ufo/104443014/
“Temple Man ‘Meets’ UFO on Highway.” Lawton (Okla.) Morning Press, March 24, 1966, pp. 1-2;
“Two Close Encounters,” APRO Bulletin, May/June 1966, p. 4;
Probe (Joseph Ferriere) 3, No. 4 (July-Aug 1966): 14;
Donald B. Hanlon, “Questions on the Occupants,” in Charles Bowen, ed., The Humanoids, Special Issue 1 of FSR, Oct./Nov. 1966, pp. 64, 66, 70;
Robert Loftin, Identified Flying Saucers, David McKay Company, 1968;
“Donald B. Hanlon on Questions on the Occupants,” Canadian UFO Report 1, No. 6 (Nov-Dec 1969): 29;
“UFO Seminar Held in Oklahoma City,” MUFON Skylook no. 41 (April 1971): 3;
Hal Crawford, Hayden Hewes, and Kietha Hewes, The Intruders, International UFO Bureau, 1971, pp. 16–21;
Hayden Hewes Talk, 1st MUFON Symposium 1971
;
Center for UFO Studies, HUMCAT Index 1966, p. 7, #66-08;
J Allen Hynek, The Hynek UFO Report, pp. 208–210;
Coral Lorenzen, Flying Saucer Occupants, p. 142;
Official Guide To UFOs;
Brad Sparks, Blue Book Unknown Files, Case 1657, p. 323;
Jerome Clark, The UFO Encyclopedia, 3rd Ed., pp. 681–682;
Jerome Clark, The UFO Encyclopedia, 4th Ed., p. 757;
Mike Swords File, 126H;
NICAP, “Wingless Craft Blocks Road / ‘Man’ Observed”;
Center for UFO Studies, [case clippings and documents];
“William Eddie Laxson and His 1966 Encounter with a UFO Blocking the Road near Temple, Oklahoma,” Eyes On Cinema YouTube channel, December 22, 2024;
