SIGHTING: MERKEL, TX
Witness Testimony
"Very high daylight disc moving south to north, with no deviation of course or altitude or speed.Visiting potential inlaws (year before marriage)in rural area a very few miles south of Merkel, near Abilene, TX. After lunch, while family members visited in ranch house, I went checking promising areas along small stream for archeological remains. Found site with surface artifacts a few hundred yards north and a bit west of house, which itself had surficial artifacts due north. Site was across road from area north of house, perhaps 300 yards. After about 30 minutes of exploring, I looked up and saw disc-shaped object almost directly overhead, a little north and east of me. Note here that surveying surface sites requires intense scrutiny of the ground, and therefore occasional reorientation of the head and neck in order to avoid muscle pain. I had looked up several times while changing orientation, but sometimes looked east, or west, or NE, etc. This time it was due north. Object was moving due north, not especially fast but easily at same speed as a commercial jet. Shape was perfectly circular, with no visible evidence of thickness --looked to me as if it were an extremely thin disc. It moved due north at regular speed with no variation at all. Neve rmoved from course. Color silver-gray, as if brushed aluminum. Not shiny or reflective -- gray on bottom, which was obviously in shadow. No glow, no lights, no features of any kind. As object continued north, it grew more "oblong," that is, its N-S dimension shrank in relation to its E-W dimension, which did change. It looked like a dime held at arm's length, but somewhat smaller. As it went north, it got smaller in both directions, but it never gave any indication of thickness and did, indeed, seem rather thin in relation to its width. Also did not change color or shade, but did seem to get somewhat darker as it went north. Object disappeared into some high, fine clouds at a point very far north of me. Estiamte of speed -- 600 to 1000 mph. Sound -- none. Lights -- none. Colors other than gray -- none. Movement to sides -- none. C! hange in altitude -- none. Change in direction -- none. Decorations or discernible features: none. Protuberances -- none. Shape -- perfectly circular but thin, not spherical. Upper superstructure -- possible, just not visible. Lower shape -- unknown; looked flat but could have been either concave or convex; if so, not by much. Duration of sighting -- about 3 minutes maximum, probably a minute less. I recall removing my eyes long enough to light a cigarette, look around to see if anyone else was in sight, and returnig my gaze until it disappeared. No one else around. Sky -- clear except for very high, very thin, very fine, long feather-shaped clouds in parallel orderly arrangements that some people now seem to think represent "chemtrails" or other manipulation of the weather. Back then, we recognized these cloud features as being normal for summer or late spring. Object was above these clouds, which according to qualified resources not given to paranoia usually appear in the 30,000 - 36,000 feet elevations. That means object was higher than 36000 feet and therefore was pretty damned big. Speed may well have been in excess of 1500 mph. No other objects in sky. Nearby to NE was an AFB with a SAC detachment. No planes scrambled. Note that the object was perfectly clearly limned or delineated -- edges crisply defined. No wings, no fuselage, no engines, no cockpit, no rudder, no tail, and no question about any of it. No contrails."
