(now Texas Tech University) student named Newell Wright was surprised when, driving east of Levelland, his "car engine began to sputter, the ammeter on the dash jumped to discharge and then back to normal, and the motor started cutting out like it was out of gas...the car rolled to a stop; then the headlights dimmed and several seconds later went out." When he got out to check on the problem, he saw a "100-foot-long" egg-shaped object sitting in the road. It took off, and his engine started running again. At 12:15 am Officer Fowler received another call, this time from a farmer named Frank Williams who claimed he had encountered a brightly glowing object sitting in the road, and "as his car approached it, its lights went out and its motor stopped." The object flew away, and his car's lights and the motor started working again. Other callers were Ronald Martin at 12:45 am and James Long at 1:15 am, and they both reported seeing a brightly lit object sitting in the road in front of them, and they also claimed that their engines and headlights died until the object flew away. By this time, several Levelland police officers were investigating the reports. Among them was Sheriff Weir Clem, who saw a brilliant red object moving across the sky at 1:30 am. At 1:45 am Levelland's Fire Chief, Ray Jones, also saw an object and his vehicle's lights and engine sputtered. The reports apparently ended soon after. During the night of November 2–3, the Levelland police department received a total of 15 UFO-related reports, and Officer Fowler noted that "everybody who called was very excited." U.S. Air Force investigation The Levelland sightings received national publicity and were soon investigated by Project Blue Book. Started in 1947 as Project Sign, Project Blue Book was the official US Air Force research group assigned to investigate UFO reports. An Air Force sergeant was sent to Levelland and spent seven hours in the city investigating the incident. After interviewing three of the eyewitnesses – Saucedo, Wheeler, and Wright – and after learning that thunderstorms were present in the area earlier in the day, the Air Force investigator concluded that a severe electrical storm – most probably ball lightning or St. Elmo's fire – was the major cause for the sightings and reported auto failures. According to UFO historian Curtis Peebles, "the Air Force found