On the night of November 2–3, 1957, at least seven separate motorists on two different roads near Levelland, Texas, reported that their engines and headlights failed simultaneously as an egg-shaped luminous object passed overhead, then restarted when it departed, with over 15 calls made to the local police station within two hours.

The Levelland police chief, sheriff, and a fire marshal all personally observed the object. J. Allen Hynek, the Air Force's own scientific consultant, later described the Blue Book investigation as one of the most poorly handled cases in the program's history. The Air Force closed the case in three days, attributing it to ball lightning, a conclusion Hynek publicly rejected.