Close Encounters of the Second Kind

An alleged saucer touchdown point. (USAF)

In Florida on August 19th, 1952, Scoutmaster C. S. Desverges was driving three members of his troop home when he saw a light in a thicket off the road. Thinking a small plane might be in trouble he pulled over. Getting out his flashlight, and telling the boys to get help if he did not return in 15 minutes, he hacked his way into the palmetto thicket with a machete. As he approached where he'd seen the light he began to smell a strong odor and notice it was getting unbearably hot. Then he saw a large dark object in the shape of a disc, 30 or 40 feet above his head, blocking his view of the sky. While shining his light at it he heard a noise like "the opening of a well-oiled safe door," and he was suddenly engulfed by a ball of glowing red mist. Then he lost consciousness.

The boys, observing the scoutmasters light, saw a flame envelope him, and saw him fall. They ran to get help at a nearby farmhouse. By the time they brought the deputy sheriff, Deverges had recovered and was making his way out to the road. No trace of the UFO was found, but the Scoutmaster noticed the hair on his arms was singed and he had slight burns on his arms, hands and cap. Though investigators suspected a hoax they were unable to figure how it had been done.

This UFO incident would be classified as a close encounter of the second kind because of the burn marks left on Mr. Desverge. Encounters of the second kind are different from encounters of the first kind because some kind of tangible evidence has been left. These may be burns, as in the Desverge case, or damage to the environment, like crushed grass or indentations in the ground. People have reported having car electrical systems fail in the presence of UFOs.

Some people include the appearance of the many crop circles in the southern English country-side as tangible evidence of a CE2 visit, though, there seems to be other explainations for these.

On November 2, 1957, truck driver Pedro Saucedo was driving north on route 116 near Levelland, Texas, when he saw what appeared to be a large flame ahead. His truck engine died and the headlights failed. Ahead a UFO, shaped like a torpedo, about 200 feet long, flew off at a high rate of speed. When the UFO was out of sight the lights of the truck came back on and Saucedo was able to start the engine. The police recorded 15 calls that night from people who had spotted a UFO in the area. Others also reported having car engines fail too.