1983-02-28 - Tilden, TX - Fireball

South Texas non illuminating ball of fire

When I was a young boy I lived in a very small town in South Texas, Tilden, TX. I as well as two other immediate family members have very clear memories of an event that occurred one night. I don't remember the exact date but I know, as well as I know my own name, that it was the night the very last episode of M.A.S.H. aired I think it was 1983-84 something like that.

We moved to Tilden from San Antonio because my mother was the personal assistant for a Texas oil man. He had some 2000 acres just outside Tilden and wanted to get out of the city. He built three houses all on virgin land on his ranch. The houses were about 40 -50 yards apart one was for his parents, one for the pilot, and the other for our family. My dad was in the air force and stationed in Korea at the time so being the typical air force brat I had a fascination with all aircraft. The pilot, always kept the jet ranger close by the three houses incase one of us kids were to get struck by a snake. My mothers boss had 3 kids, the pilot had 2, and my mother had 2 and being virgin South Texas land it was not uncommon to wakeup with Rattle Snakes on the door steps keeping warm on the concrete.

The night I am referring to my mother's boss and the pilot had been using the Bell to help herd some cattle that day and had not come home when Mash started. Just as Mash was ending my German Sheppard, Joy, started howling and crying like I've never heard a dog do before or since. She ran wildly around the living room and would run to the back door then back to the couch. Joy would normally get upset when the bramas would come close to the house or when an illegal would come up to the house looking for work. However this was different she literally went crazy. She stopped running around and went to the sliding glass door and bared her teeth starring out the door snarling like she was possessed. Did I mention that she was a puppy maybe 8 months old. She had never done this before and was disturbing us so I went to the door to get her and calm her down when I saw what she was going on about The scrub brush had been cleared probably 200 yards in any direction around the houses when they were built and directly behind ours was a ball of fire. That is the only way I can describe it. It was difficult to register the dimensions of the thing but I am sure it had to be at least 60 yards in diameter it looked huge. It was perfectly round and appeared to be on fire. NO windows or little green men coming out, it was simply hovering a few feet off the ground. What was strange, as if that was not strange in its self, it was very bright and had red, yellow, and orange colors to it and pulsated but it cast NO light. What I mean is it did not cast shadows or light up the area around it. You could only barely make out the ground just below it. I stood there for 2 or 3 minutes trying to get my mother and sister to come look at this thing and when my mother saw it she started to panic and rushed us in to the back bedroom and forced Joy to come as well. We probably stayed in the bedroom for 20 minutes when we heard the pilot coming in with the Jet Ranger. The next day I told the pilot what we had seen and asked if he saw anything, of course I was met with a disbelieving attitude and he said he did not see a thing. No one saw it but us, not the pilot’s family nor my mothers bosses.

I am a college educated professional businessman, in fact I minored in philosophy and consider myself a very rational person. I know what I saw and gave up a very long time ago on trying to get people to believe this story no matter how very true it is. I am not a UFO buff but I know there is something unexplained out there and it does fly. I have however never heard of any sighting that can be described as a huge ball of fire and was wondering if you have. I have heard of the Marfa lights and always thought maybe this was one.

Curious,


((NUFORC Note: Witness indicates that the date of the event is approximate. PD))