1994-05-01 - Ocotillo Wells, CA - Fireball

Large stationary fiery ball

I was camping in the Mountain Springs Campground (along route S21) of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in May of 1994. I was facing east across an expanse that included the Carrizo Badlands, the Carrizo "Impact Zone", The now so-called "National Parachute Test Range" (Abandoned), the Coyote Mtns which include Carrizo Peak and farther, Superstition Mountain.

I spent the early evening in my motor home when I stepped out at 10 pm to view the stars. It was impossible to miss the bright hovering ball of flame located to the east. I estimated it at about seven miles distant as I could plainly see from the light provided by this object that had lit up the entire area beneath it, maybe ten sqr miles, making this estimate possible. A vehicle trail beneath it was clearly visible and I had been to that location (As most others in the park) prior. I further estimated the fiery object as being approximately 1000 ft in altitude. The object was just as I have stated, a ball of fire. I observed it through 10x52 binoculars and it was clearly a round ball of burning gas with flames licking out exactly as videos of the sun show. The overall color of this ball of flame was red-orange, mostly red like the sun itself.

Though astonished I still tried to explain away the phenomenon but there is no explanation. Skeptics would say that it was a flare but this siting lasted over four hours and the object never moved. Others might say that it was something attached to the parachute tower but that locale is farther south and also only one or two-hundred feet high.

While I was observing this oddity, I saw two USMC F4 phantom jets approach silently from the north below the level of the Laguna Mtns to my rear. They had no lights of any kind and when they reached my relative position, they made a 90 degree turn and headed straight for the siting. Strangely and whether this relates or not, I note that these two aircraft, noisy under any conditions that I knew of, made no sound whatever and they were so close to me (Estimate 500-600 feet lateral and about 300 ft in relative altitude.) I could actually see the pilots silhouetted in their craft. After closing the gap of several miles in just a few seconds the two aircraft returned to a heading that would take them to either the El Centro Naval Air Station or its sister base in Yuma, Arizona.

I continued to observe this object until bored and returned to the camper only to check periodically to see if it was still there. It was. I checked perhaps five times until sometime after 2 AM it was gone.

After checking a map I determined that this aerial phenomena was above perhaps the southern border of the Impact Zone and the park boundary itself.

I am from a family of pilots, air controllers and air crews and myself have a small number of flight hours. I have flown over the region several times and camped in all the areas of this park many more times between 1964 and the present. I have lived for years in the area and other locales that have military aviation and have never seen such an item. I did not report this to any group or agency at the time and was unaware of the UFO Reporting Center until years later. After consulting with Peter Davenport I agreed to make this report, however late.

Strangely, after a 12 year absence I returned to the same site on Dec 10 of this year and had another sighting (s) which I will follow-up with.


((NUFORC Note: Witness indicates that the date of the sighting is approximate. One of two credible reports from the same witness. Other sighting occurred in San Francisco on, or about, October 01, 1998, at 10:00 hrs.. PD))