UFOs or Earthlights?

May 7^th, 1968.  Sanford, Colorado.

Town Marshal Felix Gallegos and his family witnessed a series of strange, red balls of light shooting up from the ground and into the sky.

Gallegos reported that he after he arrived home on the night of the 7^th, he looked out the picture window and saw a red ball of light streak up from the ground and into the sky.  Seconds later, another similar object followed the same course.

Gallegos called for his wife and children to come over to the window, and they arrived in time to see a third red orb take off.  Gallegos stated that the object was...”in a straight line, headed south about six feet off the ground.”

While the Gallegos family continued to observe the area, they witnessed five more objects leaving the ground in a similar fashion.  Some went straight up into the air, others took off at about a 45 degree angle.

The Marshal believed that the objects were taking off from the Keith Morch farm, located about ¼ mile from the Gallegos home.

He telephoned Mrs. Morch who reported that she had also seen the objects, which appeared, form her vantage point, to originate about two blocks from her house. 

Did the witnesses observe some type of natural phenomena similar to earthquake lights?  While there are similarities, no further reports were made in the region at the time.  Similar glowing orbs have been reported in varied locations over the years, but the jury is out on exactly what they are.

Of note in this case is that none of the witnesses described an actual craft or object.  Additionally, an examination of the ground from which the objects appeared to have taken off yielded no physical evidence.

Also of note is that Sanford lies in the San Luis Valley, an area long known for a wide range of high weirdness including UFO reports and cattle mutilations.

The original report on this case appeared in the A.P.R.O Bulletin for July-August 1968.